Strong winds downed trees and power lines in parts of the state while recent snowfall combined with the wind led to avalanche warnings in northwestern and west-central Montana.
A wind gust of 119 mph was recorded at 4 a.m. Thursday by a wind gauge on top of the visitor’s center at Logan Pass in Glacier National park, the National Weather Service said.
Most of the rest of the state saw wind gusts of 55 mph to 65 mph, said meteorologist Megan Vandenheuvel.
Power lines were reported down at Thompson Falls, Great Falls and Dillon while trees were blown over in several places. In Billings, Kenny Baumann said his children’s swing set, which had withstood an 80 mph gust before, was tipped over Thursday morning.
“It felt like it was actually shaking the house,” Baumann told The Billings Gazette.
Valerie Wanberg found her family’s trampoline, damaged, about 100 yards down a Billings street.
The West Central Montana Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning for the mountains above 6,000 feet after up to 18 inches of snow fell on a very weak snowpack over the past couple of days. The U.S. Forest Service issued an avalanche warning in Glacier National Park and the Flathead and Kootenai national forests between the elevations of 5,000 and 7,500 feet.
Meanwhile, the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park was closed after an SUV-sized boulder fell on the road between West Yellowstone and Madison Junction sometime early Thursday. The boulder fell from a spot several hundred feet above the roadway.
Park geologists assessed the site for potential further rockfall. Park crews used tractors to push the 4-foot-thick, 7-foot-long boulder off the road, which reopened Thursday afternoon.