Flooding in Montana, June 2 to 5, 2005

Name: Flooding in Montana, June 2 to 5, 2005
Start: 2005-06-02T00:00
End: 2005-06-05T00:00
Location: Montana

June 2 to 5, 2005 · NWS MSO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Three days of moderate to heavy rain on top of snow pack in the Mission and Swan Mountains caused small creeks to flood with mud and debris flows causing damage. 50 inches in the valleys, and 4 to 7 inches over higher terrain in Lake County.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $701,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

Three days of moderate to heavy rain on top of snow pack in the Mission and Swan Mountains caused small creeks to flood with mud and debris flows causing damage. Total rainfall amounts ranged from 2.50 inches in the valleys, and 4 to 7 inches over higher terrain in Lake County. Damage occurred mainly in Lake County due to washouts of roads and clogged culverts from debris and water flowing out of the Mission Mountains. Several bridges along creeks were also damaged. The worse damage occurred along the east side of Flathead Lake on Highway 35 between mile markers 9 and 12. The highway was closed for several days from several creeks that had washed out and covered the highway with debris and mud. Montana Pines RV Park along the east shore was flooded with two recreational vehicles damaged from high water. Near Ronan, Post and North Crow Creeks flooded and trapped 14 families on Michel Road, where a bridge was washed out and a home was flooded. Three families were cut off by high water on Canyon Mill Road east of Ronan. Flooding of roads also occurred near St. Ignatius. Damage ranged from $200,000 in the city of Ronan to $500,000 for Lake County. In Flathead County, a home was flooded from Hemlar Creek over topping its banks. Other creeks that flooded were Krause and Handkerchief were homes were also threatened by high water. Flooding of low lying areas was reported near Swan Lake. In Big Fork Bay, the combination of high creek flows and high water in Flathead Lake, caused rising water and minor damage to docks in the bay. In Glacier National Park, the Going to the Sun Road was closed due to rockslides from heavy rainfall.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 1, 7:12 PM MST, 4 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 7:12 PM MST, 4 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
812 PM MDT WED JUN 1 2005

.UPDATE...WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION CONTINUES FOR NORTHWEST MONTANA.
UPDATED POPS AND WEATHER FOR CURRENT CONDITIONS. OTHER THAN
THIS...FORECAST SEEMS TO BE ON TRACK.

&&

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW
WILL REMAIN CENTERED OVER MONTANA THROUGH FRIDAY RESULTING IN SOGGY
CONDITIONS FOR WESTERN MONTANA. A LARGE AREA RAIN CURRENTLY COVERS
THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA NORTH OF I-90. SOUTH OF I-90 SCATTERED
SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED THIS AFTERNOON DUE TO AFTERNOON
INSTABILITY. WILL MENTION THUNDERSTORMS FOR THIS EVENING ACROSS
CENTRAL IDAHO WHERE WARMER TEMPERATURES HAVE CAUSED THE AIRMASS TO
BECOME SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE.

EXPECT A PERSISTENT RAIN WITH HIGH MOUNTAIN SNOW TO CONTINUE THROUGH
FRIDAY ACROSS THE GLACIER PARK AND FLATHEAD LAKE REGIONS. SNOW
LEVELS WILL VARY BETWEEN 6500 AND 7500 FEET. SOUTH AND WEST OF
FLATHEAD LAKE RAIN WILL NOT BE AS WIDESPREAD BUT MOST LOCATIONS WILL
EXPERIENCE A PERIOD OR TWO OF RAIN NOW THROUGH FRIDAY AS
DISTURBANCES ROTATE AROUND THE UPPER LEVEL LOW. OVERCAST SKIES AND
PRECIPITATION WILL HELP KEEP HIGH TEMPERATURES WELL BELOW NORMAL FOR
THE NEXT TWO DAYS.

FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...COOL AND UNSETTLED PATTERN WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH THIS PERIOD AS A BLOCKING PATTERN IN WESTERN CANADA
WILL KEEP AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IN PLACE OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES.
MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT...WITH AN UPPER
LEVEL LOW OVER CENTRAL MT FRIDAY NIGHT TO LIFT NORTH ON SATURDAY...
ONLY TO BE REPLACED BY ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL LOW TO MOVE INTO THE
REGION LATE SUNDAY. WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE POPS FRIDAY NIGHT AND
SATURDAY...WITH BEST CHANCE FOR A BREAK FROM PRECIPITATION SATURDAY
NIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY BETWEEN SYSTEMS. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THIS
PERIOD WILL REMAIN BELOW AVERAGE WITH VALLEY TEMPERATURES GENERALLY
IN THE 60S FOR HIGHS WITH LOWS IN THE 40S.

&&

AVIATION...EXPECT STEADY PRECIPITATION TO CONTINUE INTO EARLY THIS
EVENING NORTH OF A LINE FROM KMSO TO KBTM WITH PREVAILING MVFR
CONDITIONS...LOCALLY DROPPING TO IFR CONDITIONS IN HEAVIER
SHOWERS...MAINLY ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE FOR CEILINGS
AROUND 1000FT. SOUTH OF THIS AREA...PRECIPITATION WILL BE MORE
SCATTERED IN NATURE WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LATER THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS THE AIRMASS DESTABILIZES SOME WITH SOME
BREAKS IN THE CLOUD-COVER OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ID.

&&

.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
ID...NONE.

&&

UPDATE...HARDAMON/STEGEMILLER
PREVIOUS...MEIER/HOENISCH
WEATHER.GOV/MISSOULA

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Flathead/Mission Valleys

When: June 2, 12:00 AM MST to June 5, 12:00 AM MST
Where: Flathead/Mission Valleys forecast zone
Property damage: $700,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.533, -107.500

Flood, West Glacier Region

When: June 2, 12:00 AM MST to June 5, 12:00 AM MST
Where: West Glacier Region forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, June 2005

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5462011, 5462012.