Yellowstone River flooding over the banks Thursday afternoon @ 6pm near Cowboys in Huntley. In front, an animal corral and fence is losing ground due to erosion as water levels increase approaching the Memorial day weekend. (Jonathan McNiven photo)
With warm temperatures melting a heavy mountain snow pack and a forecast for heavy rain beginning Sunday, state and county emergency services are scrambling in anticipation of record flooding by Memorial Day, if not sooner. They are especially concerned about the impact on Huntley.
The Yellowstone River and some of its tributaries are expected to exceed record levels of flooding, following storms that are forecasted to dump as much as two inches of rainfall along the Beartooth front and the Pryor Mountain foothills. Officials projected that some rivers, including the Yellowstone River at Billings could exceed record flooding by 1.5 feet or more, as the rainfall augments river levels that are already at normal flood stage. “It has our attention,” said Keith Meier, a meteorologist of the National Weather Service, Billings, indelivering the forecast on a phone speaker during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
“There’s going to be a lot of read more
