Sub-zero temperatures and historic snowfall have been keeping crews busy across the Flathead Valley, including the Public Works Department in Kalispell, which responded to a pair of broken water mains this week.
Susie Turner, the city’s public works director, said a cast iron main from the 1930s broke on Fourth Avenue West between 10th street and 11th street on Jan. 3, causing minor flooding. By that evening, city crews had successfully patched up the infrastructure and were addressing the leftover ice.
The following morning, as temperatures remained below zero, another old water main broke on Second Avenue West and 10th Street, leading to more pooling in the street. Crews responded in the morning and contained the water to the city street before repairing the damaged water main.
“They did a fantastic job. They were very well prepared,” Turner said.
Winter’s wrath is certainly keeping crews on call. Turner said plow crews in Kalispell have been starting at 4 a.m. to clear any snow from city streets, beginning with emergency and school routes before moving into primary and secondary residential and commercial neighborhoods. The city’s 11 drivers have worked to clear streets “as fast as we can,” Turner said.
“Over the holiday weekend, they put in long hours to get those roads opened up for safe travel for our citizens,” she said.
Snowfall in December was more than twice the monthly average with 33.6 inches, the fifth largest total on record since 1899, according to the National Weather Service. The weather station at Glacier Park International Airport usually receives roughly 16 inches of snow in the month of December.
The heavy snowfall of December transitioned into an arctic cold snap in January with temperatures dipping as low as minus 22 degrees in Kalispell on Jan. 4. Kalispell’s temperature was the second coldest that day behind only Butte, which dipped as low as minus 30. Sub-zero temperatures were reported across Montana this week but were expected to subside by the weekend.
City officials are reminding residents to shovel their sidewalks, per city law. Snow removal is required on residential and commercial sidewalks within 72 hours.
“We would really appreciate them being involved and getting that done so our pedestrians can safely use those sidewalks,” Turner said.