Avalanche Shuts Down U.S. Highway 2 Near Kalispell

Today was a tough day for Montana Department of Transportation workers near Kalispell. According to MTDOT Maintenance Supervisor Gary Engman, the long day began with an avalanche that shut down U.S. Highway 2.

"After 5 a.m. sometime this morning out on U.S.Highway 2, we had an avalanche come down and block the road completely," Engman said. "It was probably 150 feet long by three feet at the low side. We did have a BNSF truck stuck in it also, but no injuries or damage to the truck."

Crews toiled for hours to clear the snow.

"We had the first lane open probably by 6:30 a.m., quarter to 7 a.m.," Engman said. "We had both lanes open at 8 a.m. and then we still had some shoulder work to do to get the snow out of the ditch."

Engman said that freezing rain is predicted for this morning, but that no one is expecting anything near the large amounts of precipitation that hit western Montana on Monday and Tuesday.