Thousands Remain Without Power as Strong Winds Return to Northwest Montana
Gusts of 66 mph blew through Bad Rock Canyon early this morning and downed power lines to Essex as Flathead Electric Company crews work around the clock to restore power during the multi-day outage
By Maggie Dresser
After valley wind gusts up to 60 mph blew through northwest Montana early this morning, Flathead Electric Company (FEC) crews are working to restore power to roughly 8,000 members, many of whom have been without electricity since Wednesday’s windstorm, according to an outage update.
High winds returned to the region at about 4:40 a.m. with the most significant impacts on the U.S. Highway 2 corridor from Bad Rock Canyon to Essex where the main lines are currently down.
Hungry Horse at 4:11 a.m. clocked 66 mph wind speeds while West Glacier recorded 27 mph. At high elevations, Aeneas Ridge in the Swan Range registered 96 mph while Tunnel Ridge in the Flathead Range saw 91 mph, according to weather data.
A winter weather advisory is in effect for the West Glacier region until Saturday as areas around Glacier National Park are expected to continue seeing gusty winds and snow extending to Marias Pass.
Power restoration efforts remain challenging as trees weakened by Wednesday’s storm continue to fall into power lines, resulting in new outages, according to FEC.
“The amount of rain that we’ve received in the last couple of weeks with the warmer weather – it’s really having a significant impact on the tree root systems because the soil is saturated, it’s not holding the trees,” FEC Chief Operating Officer Jason Williams said in an update. “It’s not frozen like it normally is this time of year. That’s certainly adding to the difficulty but it’s also adding difficulty accessing into these locations.”
Thousands of Lincoln County residents remain without power, which has already been in a state of emergency since last week due to flooding, as a boil order remains in effect in Libby.
Montana Department of Environmental Quality officials yesterday received water sample results that tested for heavy metals, which did not detect any “contaminants of concern” in Libby’s municipal water system that would require a do not consume advisory, according to the Lincoln County Health Department.
However, health department officials said the boil order will remain in effect due to turbidity issues, which residents should plan on “remaining in place for some time.”
Community members can fill water jugs at Libby Public Schools where large containers are available for the public’s use at 724 Louisiana Avenue. There is also an open water tank available for large animals located at J. Neils Memorial Park north of Libby on Highway 37.
Libby Public School administrators last week canceled classes due to the flooding emergency and announced this week school will resume on Jan. 5, 2026.
