Greetings, Beacon readers! It’s another perfect day in northwest Montana with bluebird skies and a high temperature of 83 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s right, it’s almost October and it’s a beautiful and sunny day. Again. But the perception of perfect weather is in the eye of the beholder.
These may be unpopular questions – but where is the brisk breeze, the aroma of rotting earth and erratic weather patterns that autumn (the classy way to say fall) is known for? I haven’t even felt the urge to sip on a pumpkin spice latte or purchase one of the fine gourds on display at Super 1 Foods. Although Oktoberfest is slated for next weekend in Whitefish, it feels more like Under the Big Sky festival weather at high noon. Kruise Kalispell keeps on revving up and rolling coal on Friday nights as if it’s the summer solstice.
But alas, the National Weather Service tells us to “get ready for a noticeable shift to more fall-like weather” across the western part of the state next week. The cool and moist conditions that I’ve been anticipating are on tap with highs in the 60s and the potential for rain as the days get darker and the rays of sunshine fade away. By next week, there will be fewer than 12 hours of daylight.
But don’t let today’s heat fool you, ski season is around the corner and so are early season pass price deadlines. Tuesday, Sept. 30 is the last day to purchase a Whitefish Mountain Resort pass at $780 before rates spike to $1,160 through Nov. 15 followed by $1,519. You can also buy a $160 uphill-only season pass if slogging 2,000 vertical feet up Big Mountain while all of your friends share laughs on the chairlift brings you joy.
Pilot was Prepping for Youth Flight Prior to Fatal Bigfork Plane Crash
Bradley J. Young, 63, was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, whose former president blamed the fatal crash on a catastrophic engine failure. The Sept. 19 plane crash was the fourth in the Flathead Valley this summer.
As sawmill production slows and wood manufacturing industry jobs decline in northwest Montana, managers are struggling to fill positions at local mills
Body of Missing Boater Recovered from Flathead Lake
Official believe crews have recovered the body of 58-year-old James Dominguez of Wyoming after he went missing while boating during a storm this past July
In her latest column, Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger Julie Laing shares her recipe for meatless taco salad. Check it out here.
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