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Windstorm rips through region; downs trees, causes power outages in Lincoln

Strong winds that tore through western Montana last week up trees, damaged buildings and led to power outages throughout the Upper Blackfoot.

An extended period of abnormally strong, gusty wind began Jan. 12 and intensified throughout much of the day Jan. 13, with peak wind gusts recorded in the early afternoon Wednesday.

The weather station at the Lincoln Ranger District, near the Lincoln airport, reported a peak wind gust of 41 miles per hour at about 2 p.m. The reading was far below the wind speeds reported in nearby areas such as Helmville, which recorded a peak gust of 66mph at noon.

Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse believes the official reading likely doesn't reflect the true windspeeds that hit the area. He said the weather station is in a somewhat unique spot when it comes to wind and has proven unreliable in the past. He suspects the wind gusts may have actually reached into the 50 to 60 mph range.

Regardless of the accuracy of the official reading, it showed that strong wind gusts persisted from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m, Jan. 13.

Throughout the day between three and five Lincoln firefighters patrolled the area, looking for damage and removing downed trees from roads with the aid of Pete Dempster and Ron McDunn from the county Public Works department. Muse saw at least 15 properties that sustained some of type damage, either from trees that snapped or were uprooted, or from the wind itself. Most of the damage to buildings seemed to involve outbuildings, garages, and decks, while damage to homes appeared limited.

"There were quite a few that had some damage, but I don't know of any that had any so destructive they couldn't live in it," Muse said.

In downtown Lincoln, several people watched as strong winds mangled sheets of metal roofing on the Stemple Corner building, now home to the Fat Hippie dispensary. As pieces of insulation blew throughout town, a few pieces of roofing tore off entirely and were carried away, missing cars in the Citizens Alliance Bank parking lot.

Elsewhere, a portion of Grizzly Hardware's storage building blew away in the wind, while the soft soil in the Hudson Lane area resulted in several downed trees, including one that dropped directly on top of a Dodge pickup parked outside a garage.

The wind also caused severe damage to a large Ponderosa pine just across B street from the Lincoln Fire Hall, in the yard of Teresa Garland and KD Feeback.

The tree began leaning precariously and firefighters could hear the compromised wood inside the trunk snap and pop as it turned and twisted in the wind.

The condition of the tree, cracked at the bottom, unstable on the inside and seemingly held up only by part of the outer trunk, prompted Muse to contacted Public Works and closed Stemple Pass Road between B and C Streets until the tree could be safely taken down.

Muse said closing the road wasn't something he wanted to do, but due to uncertainty about how long the hazard tree would remain standing he felt it was necessary for public safety. Nevertheless, several residents ignored the closure entirely.

In addition to property damage, the windstorm also resulted in scattered power outages throughout the valley. Residents in the Stemple Pass area, south of the propane tanks were without power from about 9 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Likewise, several homes on the north side of Lincoln in the Rundell lane are were also without power for most of the day.

Muse said some homes in the South Beaver Creek area also lost power, and a few homes suffered outages from trees landing on service lines to individual houses.

Howard Skjervem with Northwest Energy didn't have firm information on the extent of the outages but noted there were additional sporadic outages in the area around Lincoln, including the airport and in the Mike Horse area.

Muse suggests cabin owners check their properties damage and ensure their propane lines weren't compromised by falling trees or debris during the storm. He also suggested residents keep an eye on any large trees on their property that may have been damaged by the wind. "There are, more than likely, a lot more standing trees that are compromised out there. The next good wind, they may come down."

 

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