Storm causes damage across NW Montana
Libby drive-in movie theater screen blown over
July 19, 2007
A string of severe thunderstorms hit Northwest Montana late Wednesday evening, July 18, bringing strong winds, lightning, hail and heavy rains. The winds blew down trees and causing flash flooding in Lincoln County.
With daylight, the damage from the storm is being assessed. In Libby, high winds from the storm blew over the movie screen at the Libby drive-in theater; as well as the baseball backstops. In addition to trees and branches strewn about, a lot of fence was blown over in the Libby area.
Flash flooding was also reported last night in Libby, where an estimated four inches of rain was reported in ½ hour. Trained spotters reported wind gusts of up to 70 mph in Libby last night. The National Weather Service sent out multiple media alerts and updates for the thunderstorms progress and flash flood warnings for specific areas in Lincoln and Flathead Counties over the course of several hours as the storm unfolded.
The strong winds knocked out the power in Libby while the storm was taking place Wednesday night. Power outages were also reported in Flathead and Lake Counties Wednesday night as the storm moved east. The storm impacted northwest Montana from Libby to Swan Valley.
The National Weather Service reported a confirmed report of a tornado touchdown in Polson, around the southern end of Flathead Lake (east of Libby, south of Kalispell), around 8:00 pm last night. There were reports of funnel clouds sighted in other areas.
LibbyMT.com
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