Weather station targets ice jams on Flower Creek
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
October 24, 2011
Hoping to provide advance warning of conditions that could lead to flooding like that experienced by residents along Flower Creek last January, the city of Libby and Lincoln County are looking into a joint project to install a weather station to provide advance warning of conditions that could lead to ice jams.
The weather station would transmit data on air and water temperature, flow rate and precipitation that could be used to spot trends indicating the potential for flooding, said Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency director Vic White.
"We’re hoping that by this data that we’re accumulating over months and years, we’d be able to track what actually causes those ice jams to occur," White said.
While the information would not ensure that flooding could be prevented, it could give both government agencies and area residents an early warning and a chance to prepare, White said.
The cost of the weather station would be $10,000, plus a $31 monthly charge for use of a website provided by the supplier of the station. The city has offered to pay for half the cost, with the other half coming from Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency’s budget, White said.
Last January’s floods followed a similar pattern to flooding in 1996, with a freeze-thaw cycle and steady rains leading to an ice jam breaking loose and clogging the bridge at Balsam Street. Around two dozen homes on Nevada and Cabinet avenues had experienced flooding, but the damage was much less widespread than it had been in 1996. A quick response by emergency crews and lessons learned from the previous event were credited with reducing the impact of the event.
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Editor's Note: See the October 18, 2011 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Tuesdays, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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