Storms slams into Valley last Friday
Farm Bureau Insurance agent Ed Wretling photographs a hay barn owned by client Marilyn Koester. The barn was destroyed Friday night at Koester’s property outside of Ronan.
By Ethan Smith
Leader Staff
A brief but powerful storm front swept the north end of the county Friday night, downing dozens of power lines and trees in less than 45 minutes.
Wind speeds of up to 60 mph were reported by weather spotters here, after a front system moved south from Lincoln County earlier in the evening, and over St. Ignatius, Ronan, Polson and points north at approximately 9:45 p.m.
By 10:30, the damage was done, as county dispatchers were flooded with dozens of callers reporting downed power lines and trees covering roads, houses and cars. All told, dispatchers fielded more than 130 calls during that shift, and calls continued well into Saturday, as people experienced loss of power on Finley Point and in other areas.
Polson and Ronan fire crews were busy responding to calls, along with Mission Valley Power crews, who had to prioritize downed power lines based on safety factors. In some cases, live lines were sitting on top of houses, while in many other cases, fallen utility poles caused power outages all over Ronan and Polson, and blocked roads.
On Hwy 35, two trees fell, blocking the road in two separate places, as Finley Point and Polson fire crews worked to remove them. Traffic was blocked in both directions for about a half hour before fire crews had the trees removed.
On Hwy 93, downed trees blocked traffic north of Pablo, while in Ronan, Timberlane and Terrace Lake Roads were closed for about an hour as Mission Valley Power crews and Ronan firefighters cut downed trees and secured fallen power lines.
Wind speeds ranged from 50 to 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Missoula. Weather spotters reported 50 mph in St. Ignatius, while another reported gusts of 60 mph in Woods Bay.
"We don't see this type of strong weather very often. It takes a pretty active weather pattern or create this type of weather. It was just an upper level disturbance that moved through very quickly," NWS meteorologist Matt Foster said. "Damage like this is pretty rare."
Ronan resident Lorraine Lynch was one of many residents who emerged after the storm, only to find a huge tree down in her yard. A 50-plus foot fir tree was uprooted in her front yard, but didn't damage anything else.
Lynch said there were several indicators that a funnel cloud might have touched down on her property, including the fact that the tree appeared to have been lifted straight out of the ground. Its root system was lying centered in the area where it had been pulled up, instead of lying on the edge, where it would have been had the tree simply been blown over.
"It was as if something picked it straight up and spun it around," Lynch said.
Other trees nearby had no signs of wind damage, while a screen on her nearby porch had been sucked out. Foster said although no tornados were reported, a system like that could produce a small one in the area, and a small one was reported in Clearwater, Idaho earlier that night, from the same front.
"We don't have many tornados here. The setup, the dynamics, aren't very conducive to that, but that doesn't mean it can't happen," he said. "It could very well have happened during that storm, and nobody saw it."
The Boys and Girls Club facility in Ronan was one of many buildings damaged across the county, when a metal carport donated to the club as a sun shelter was thrown into the north side of the building crushing the swimming pool fence on its way, damaging two porta-potties and smashing the chain link fence between Highway 93 and the club.
The carport flew into the path of southbound traffic on Highway 93 in front of the club, executive director John Schnase said. With help from two spectators from Charlo and a Ronan City policeman he then pulled the damaged structure off the highway.
"We're extremely thankful nobody was hurt ," said Schnase said. "I was really glad to have the people from Charlo and the [Ronan] police help make sure it didn't continue to block traffic and cause a worse hazard."
On Sunday, volunteers Sheila and Monte Lucht helped Schnase dismantle the carport and repair the fencing to make the club safe for the summer program kids.
"I've had many phone calls offering help, and asking if the club would be open again," said Schnase, "We're up and running again and waiting to see how our insurance coverage will handle the damages."