Storms Montana

A spring blizzard that struck central Montana overnight closed interstate highways across several passes Friday because snowplow drivers are on strike. So are the state's highway patrolmen, parole officers, university workers and prison guards. Highway Department officials said another snowstorm forecast to hit Friday night could dump up to four more feet of snow in the mountains.

Volunteers from as far as 50 miles away passed sandbags hand to hand during a steady rain Saturday, trying to protect this town's sole source of clean water from a rising flood. The southwestern Minnesota town sits where the Chippewa and Minnesota rivers merge, normally forming a stream about 100 yards across. On Saturday, the water stretched out to about a mile wide, flooding two of the three main highways into town. More than 100 families had been evacuated.

Volunteers from as far as 50 miles away passed sandbags hand to hand during a steady rain Saturday, trying to protect this town's sole source of clean water from a rising flood. The southwestern Minnesota town sits where the Chippewa and Minnesota rivers merge, normally forming a stream about 100 yards across. On Saturday, the water stretched out to about a mile wide, flooding two of the three main highways into town. More than 100 families had been evacuated.

All winter long, the monster snow sat, 109 inches of it, the most in memory, congealing in backyards like enormous albino hedgerows and sprouting like whalish toadstools in shopping mall parking lots. Trudging inside 8-foot-high tunnels carved out of sidewalk slush, desperate Dakotans wondered if the worst snowfall on record would ever melt away. Now, in the first flush of a Great Plains spring, they worry it is melting too fast.

All winter long, the monster snow sat, 109 inches of it, the most in memory, congealing in backyards like enormous albino hedgerows and sprouting like whalish toadstools in shopping mall parking lots. Trudging inside 8-foot-high tunnels carved out of sidewalk slush, desperate Dakotans wondered if the worst snowfall on record would ever melt away. Now, in the first flush of a Great Plains spring, they worry it is melting too fast.

Heavy rain on the already saturated Sandhills region caused street and basement flooding Sunday in the center of Nebraska. "The town hasn't had a flood like this in 50 years," said Gary Heilbrun, assistant volunteer fire chief. "Some old-timers talk about running canoes down Main Street. But I've been here since 1978, and it's never been like this." More than two inches of rain fell in about 30 minutes in Anselmo, a valley town of 200 people near Broken Bow, Neb., Heilbrun said.

The Pioneer League game between the Idaho Falls Gems and Butte Copper Kings was suspended in the seventh inning Saturday because of snow. "It was 88 degrees yesterday, so I'd say, yes, this was unusual," said Mark Ruckwardt, Butte's general manager. "Just another crazy day in minor league baseball, I guess." Skies were overcast at the start of the game at Alumni Coliseum, which is at an altitude of 5,800 feet in the Rocky Mountains.

Heavy rain on the already saturated Sandhills region caused street and basement flooding Sunday in the center of Nebraska. "The town hasn't had a flood like this in 50 years," said Gary Heilbrun, assistant volunteer fire chief. "Some old-timers talk about running canoes down Main Street. But I've been here since 1978, and it's never been like this." More than two inches of rain fell in about 30 minutes in Anselmo, a valley town of 200 people near Broken Bow, Neb., Heilbrun said.

The Pioneer League game between the Idaho Falls Gems and Butte Copper Kings was suspended in the seventh inning Saturday because of snow. "It was 88 degrees yesterday, so I'd say, yes, this was unusual," said Mark Ruckwardt, Butte's general manager. "Just another crazy day in minor league baseball, I guess." Skies were overcast at the start of the game at Alumni Coliseum, which is at an altitude of 5,800 feet in the Rocky Mountains.

A spring blizzard that struck central Montana overnight closed interstate highways across several passes Friday because snowplow drivers are on strike. So are the state's highway patrolmen, parole officers, university workers and prison guards. Highway Department officials said another snowstorm forecast to hit Friday night could dump up to four more feet of snow in the mountains.