Updated: July 25, 6:55 a.m.
Powerful thunderstorms swept across the region, leaving a trail of destruction.
Northwest Energy (NWE) crews worked overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning to restore power to more than 20,000 customers after severe storms hit western Montana.
The following is NWE’s statement:
“Crews are working to restore service as quickly and safely as possible to customers impacted by outages caused by extreme weather and high winds that began in west-central Montana.
Overnight, service was restored to more than 20,000 customers.
Trees and other debris damaged power lines and poles in Missoula and surrounding areas. Stay at least 30 feet away from any downed or damaged power lines, and never touch anything in contact with power lines, including tree branches.
The Missoula Police Department warned on social media that there are multiple safety hazards in Missoula County, including Downed trees, debris on roadways and downed power lines.
People should use caution when driving, biking or walking as there may be downed trees and debris on the roads and stay away from areas that appear unsafe.
Some traffic signals are out of power – people are asked to approach them as if they were a four-way stop.
Updated at 11:30 pm on July 24, 2024:
According to the National Weather Service in Missoula, wind speeds as high as 81 mph were recorded at KMSO Airport, where its offices are located.
Wind speeds reached 109 mph at the top of Missoula's Sentinel Summit.
They said they received numerous reports of downed power lines, downed trees, power outages and damage to homes and property.
They offered their best wishes to all affected and recommended taking extra safety precautions around live power lines that may have been downed.
Original report on July 24, 2024 at 9:23 pm:
MONTANA – A storm in western Montana caused severe outages that left thousands without power, according to the Northwest Energy Outage Map.
Thunderstorms with wind gusts up to 70 mph are currently moving across western Montana, with most of the confirmed outages reported so far in the Missoula and Flathead Lake areas.
Thunderstorms and high-speed winds of up to 70 mph are sweeping across western Montana.
Northwest Energy Maps reports additional outages are expected near Bozeman and Great Falls.
Please use extreme caution at this time. NonStop Local is working to contact authorities for more information and will continue to provide updates to this page.
Thunderstorm brings big lightning to MT west
Trees downed by major storm in Missoula area – July 24, 2024
MT Western Thunderstorm Lightning – July 24, 2024
Please note: This is unrelated to Northwest Energy's previous announcement regarding the potential need to monitor planned outages.
