The National Weather Service in Missoula has issued a flood advisory in the Bearmouth area west of Drummond.
Dan Zumpfe, a meteorologist with the NWS, said an ice jam on the Clark Fork River is diverting water onto nearby ranch land about a mile east of Bearmouth. Water is spreading gradually through hay fields and threatening outbuildings in the area.
He said the unusually cold November temperatures are causing ice jams to appear on the river much earlier than the usual December to January time frame.
“This place in particular is a place where we haven’t seen ice jams in more than a decade,” Zumpfe said. “Once the temperatures warm up, we’re hoping it will break up.”
Although the area is still seeing overnight lows in the single digits and even below zero, Zumpfe said the days will be warmer by midweek, when the NWS will revisit the condition of the flood advisory after seeing how the ice breaks up.