Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Mayor Becky Erickson and Director of Public Works Rob Kompel sat down with the Courier to discuss the city’s success in soliciting grants, raising money for the recent fire truck purchase, handling the declared state of emergency, the final stage of the water improvement district, and the positives of working with the current City Council members. Mayor Erickson was emphatic in her recognition of city employees and the City Council who work hard on behalf of the city. Mayor Erickson began by discussing the upcoming publishing of the City C... Full story
The recent weather events here in Valley County and beyond are taking both front and center stage. Starting Oct. 1, localized flooding due to rainfall has been reported in several areas. According to NWS’ Tanja Franzen, the flood predictions are not as dire as they were on Oct. 7. Beaver Creek is mostly fueling this flood, which is a good thing for Glasgow. We’re seeing the Milk River at Glasgow rising slowly as a result, and “it’s still flooding, and expected to crest at 29.1 feet, but that is at least 2 feet lower than originally expected,” F... Full story
Recent flooding throughout Valley and Phillips counties have had impacts on low lying areas, drowning out hay bales and alfalfa seed as well as covering roads. The Courier spoke with local ranchers and farmers affected by the flooding to get their reports on this problematic fall weather. West of Hinsdale, Mark and Heidi Johnson have been ranching for some time. Mr. Johnson grew up ranching since the 1950s and Heidi married onto the ranch some 25 years ago. They provided insight not only on... Full story
Jeffrey Howard Banfield Alexander, 36, passed away Tuesday, July 23, 2016, at the University of Utah Burn Center after a house explosion in Glasgow, Mont., Friday, June 10, 2016. A memorial for Jeffrey will be held in Arizona at a currently unspecified time and place. He was born to Charlene Alexander and Howard Banfield Alexander Jan. 12, 1980, in Marion, Ohio. He joined the Army as an infantryman and deployed with the 172nd Stryker Brigade to Mosul, Iraq. He married Stephanie on R&R during deployment and was then extended and sent to Baghdad...
An explosion of currently unknown origin demolished and burned a northwestern Glasgow home Friday, June 10, at 6:22 a.m. badly injuring the occupant and completely destroying the home. According to Brandon Brunelle, Glasgow's Fire Chief, "There was an explosion followed by the house being totally engulfed in flames." He added that crews from the Glasgow City Fire and Valley County Long Run fire departments responded with a total of three engines and 13 volunteer firefighters. The flames were...
With the recent occurrence of an Amber Alert there have been several concerns that alerts did not reach mobile phones across several counties in northeast Montana. Some phones were not alerted because the option for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) were turned off on individual’s mobile phones while others who had the service turned on still did not get the notification. While the dissemination process for WEAs continues to be improved, there are a few important things about Wireless Emergency Alerts to learn for not only the next Amber Alert,... Full story
In early January, Tanja Fransen from the National Weather Service attended the 96th Annual American Meteorological Society meeting in New Orleans, La. While there, she presented a poster highlighting the public health impacts in NE Montana from our wildfire smoke events last summer. She also spoke to students about the importance of an integrated warning team between the NWS and its partners and then led two exercises with approximately 100 students who were able to learn from operational...
It's still a Star Wars New Year at Valley Cinemas, as Star Wars: The Force Awakens stays on for a fourth almost unprecedented week. It's joined by The Revenant, Oscar-winner Alejandro González Iñárritu's film about Hugh Glass, the historical figure who scouted for trappers in Montana and thereabouts in the early 1800s. For the past few seasons and for the foreseeable future, we've been surrounded by remakes and reboots. That man from U.N.C.L.E., James Bond, the Mission Impossible team. The Ha...
A dose of hoar frost helped decorate much of the Glasgow area for the holidays this past week. The weather phenomenon typically occurs when there is a combination of snow on the ground, open water on the lake, and an absence of wind. According to Tanja Fransen (National Weather Service Glasgow), "In 2010, we had so much fog, the rime ice and hoar frost kept accumulating and it actually took down power lines from St. Marie into the Opheim/Larslan areas." No related damage was reported during... Full story
Each year in the United States, there are an average of 7,100 weather related vehicle fatalities, accounting for 24 percent of all vehicle fatalities. This is more than all other weather related deaths combined. Winter storms also claim dozens of lives in non-vehicle related accidents, and cause hundreds of millions in damages and resources to handle the snow event. In Montana, cold weather exposure and automobile accidents are the main causes of winter weather related deaths. Now is the time to make sure you are ready for winter weather....
The Courier's Virgil Vaupel measures hail collected in Hinsdale after thunderstorms hit the area on July 27. Elsewhere, the National Weather Service in Glasgow found that a large macroburst hit Glendive and the surrounding area, with higher intense microburst winds within the line of storms. Many residents reported these phenomena as a tornado, but photos and videos investigated by NWSG indicated a large shelf cloud with considerable scud clouds condensing ahead of the line. According to NWSG... Full story
Smoke from massive Canadian fires continues to affect air quality locally, according to Tanja Fransen of National Weather Service Glasgow. Despite varying weather patterns, fires in Alberta, British Columbia, NW Territories, Saskatchewan and elsewhere continue to produce smoke that is entering the local weather system. The region has had over 5 million acres burn so far this year. "When the mid- and upper- level winds are right," reports Fransen, "it gets moved across Northeast Montana." A...
July 7, 2015 We at the NWS are anticipating this smoke will continue on and off with different levels of severity for several weeks at least. In coordination with the public health officials, we will be using a 3-mile visibility or lower criteria for issuing highlights on our social media (Facebook and Twitter are viewable without an account). At one mile or less we will issue a Dense Smoke Advisory. While those who have asthma and COPD and other lung issues may see issues well before we get to 3 miles, this is where the general public may star...
Smoky Air moved into Northeast Montana Monday Evening We’ve had a lot of calls about the smoke. Here are some updates on the source and movement of the air, and potential health concerns: The fire source region is in the boreal forest of northern Saskatchewan, Alberta and Northwest Territories. There are multiple fires burning, with acreage as of June 29 at 148,000 acres or 231 square miles. Air quality at the two eastern Montana stations in Malta and near Sidney is “Hazardous” according to the sensors that MT DEQ has there. This is the first...
Chief of Police Bruce Barstad reminds drivers not to leave children or pets unattended in vehicles during our warm season, even with the window slightly open. Temperatures in vehicles rise quickly and can easily lead to heatstroke and/or death for children and animals. At 80-degrees outside, your vehicle’s inside temperature can rise to 120-degrees or higher in an hour, quickly causing health issues for children and pets. If you see a child or pet left unattended in a vehicle with the windows rolled up, call the police. Seasonal temperature c...
WEDNESDAY – MAY 6 6 p.m. - A DC Trip meeting at GHS in room #4. It is not too late to sign up for the 2015-16 trip to DC. 6-8 p.m. - Free Skywarn Weather Spotter Class will be held at the Senior Citizen Center in Nashua. The National Weather Service in Glasgow will cover weather safety, ways of getting weather information, and how thunderstorms form. No RSVP is needed. For those who can not attend in person, there is also an online class. There are two online modules, and you can select the option to have your information sent to the NWS a... Full story
WEDNESDAY – APRIL 29 6 p.m. - The Valley County Democratic Central Committee County Convention in the Valley County Courthouse Community Room. For more info, call 263-1940. FRIDAY – MAY 1 A special display, “20th Century History of Aprons,” will be presented during May at the Pioneer Museum. Anyone who has aprons to display can bring them to the museum the last week of April or call Barb Hoffmann at 228-4926. The museum will open for the summer season on Tuesday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. In June, Monday will be ad... Full story
While it might seem out of the ordinary to have a snowstorm moving in right after Easter Sunday, the National Weather Service in Glasgow said it actually wasn't very out of the ordinary. The storm system that moved in recent days came from the West Coast and over the Rockies, dropping a few inches of snow in the area. Temperatures were cooler than normal Monday and will continue that way through Wednesday. But the temperature will be above normal by Friday. In fact, temperatures have been above...
It's been a few years in the making, and it could be a few more years until a final plan is complete. The Glasgow Levee Committee has been working over the last year on creating a System-Wide Improvement Program (SWIF) policy that will help address several of the issues with the local levee. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has made a few visits to Glasgow to work with the committee and see in person the issues of encroachments along the levee line. A new chair for the committee was put into place recently, Tanja Fransen, who works for the...
January • Has Glasgow really been sucked into some vortex that's dropped the temperatures below zero? The easy answer is no. Tanja Fransen, warning coordination meteorologist at National Weather Service Glasgow, explains that this is actually a low pressure system that came down from the North Pole and brought cold weather with it. The Arctic cold front pushed down farther south than usual, which brought colder than average temperatures to much of the nation. • Resigning one city council sea...
The New Year came with a lot of snow and cold temperatures. The National Weather Service in Glasgow reported that 6.7 inches of snow fell on Monday, Jan. 5. On top of the snowfall from Friday and Saturday, the snowfall added up to over 11 inches in the month of January as of Tuesday morning. The good news is that the snowfall will slow down and not a whole lot of accumulation is expected in the upcoming week. Some areas may see about another inch at most. What followed the snow was a bitter blast of cold. Temperature fell below zero over the we...
By Bonnie Davidson The Courier The annual Skywarn Radio event took place this weekend at the National Weather Service in Glasgow. They started broadcasting around 5 p.m. Friday and continued through Saturday at 5 p.m. It sounded a little like a foreign language as they made ham radio calls out to other stations all over the country. Their goal was to reach as many as they could in 24-hour period as part of this storm spotter program. A few veterans and a few first time amateurs were spotted during the event. Scotty Gray, who has been using ham...
Family, food and football are American traditions for Thanksgiving. As residents may be heading out of town for festivities this year, they might want to make extra preparations as two storms make their way through the state this week. According to AAA, more than 46 million Americans will travel for Thanksgiving dinner this year and with the average price of gas dropping below the $3 a gallon mark, it's probably a safe bet that holiday travel will increase this year. AAA stated that this will be the highest travel volume for the holiday since...
Winter advisory warnings and watches went out for Northeast Montana over the past weekend – and they proved to be correct. The National Weather Service in Glasgow forecast accumulations in Valley County ranging from 4 to 6 inches of snow. That prediction came pretty close to what was reported as the snow finally stopped falling Monday morning. NWS Glasgow reported just over 6 inches of snowfall Monday, breaking a record set in 1940 for Glasgow. The previous daily record of 4.6 inches on Nov. 9...
While the rains have stopped, the water is still flowing. The record-breaking rainfall isn't quite done causing damage as the waters as of Tuesday hadn't receded under flood levels. But the Milk River was expected to fall below flood stages within the next day. The forecast was for some minor flooding to continue. Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Rick Seiler explained Tuesday that officials are waiting for waters to recede before they can fully assess damages from flooding last week.... Full story
