flooding

Today is Election Day in Montana. Elections Administrator Bradley Seaman says all ballots must be dropped off no later than 8:00 p.m. to be counted.

Both the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers are in flood stage and will be until further notice.

Rain has been falling steadily all night around western Montana, according to meteorologist Leeanne Allegretto with the National Weather Service Office in Missoula. She provided the overnight numbers as of 4:00 a.m.

A Flood Watch issued for the Bitterroot River.

The National Weather Service and the Missoula County Office of Emergency Management are warning of heavy rain and possible Clark Fork River flooding.

The National Weather Service and the Missoula County Office of Emergency Management are teaming up to let residents in western Montana know that a very warm and moist weather system is headed into western Montana with heavy rain and possible flooding.

The National Weather Service is predicting that the Clark Fork River will experience minor flooding as the warm weather melts the snow pack in western Montana mountains.

When the City of Missoula acquired what is now the Missoula Water Company, one of the necessary steps was to comply with federal, state and local laws for storm water management and to maintain infrastructure for surface and underground movement of water from rain and snow melt.

With the heavy rain that Missoula has received over the past 24 hours, there has been some concern that rivers might have more water overflowing their banks, but the National Weather Service says not necessarily

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the Bitterroot River as it flows through Missoula.

The Clark Fork River, as expected, overflowed its banks this week and neighborhoods located near the river are now experiencing flooding.

The National Weather Service has been keeping a close eye on the Clark Fork River as the weather has been warming, and they are now predicting that the Clark Fork River will exceed the 7.5 foot flood stage this week, according to meteorologist Jennifer Kitzmiller.