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But wait ... there’s more!

Storm dumps two feet of snow on Polson, slightly less south of town ... and it keeps on coming

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Not since 1996, local folks say, has Polson received as much snow as it did on Dec. 29. Snow started falling during the night and continued to pile up all day, leaving the landscape, cars and houses covered with about two feet of the fluffy white stuff. Polson received much more snow than did Kalispell, with about 5 inches, and Missoula, with approximately 2 inches. 

Longtime Polson resident Dave Sherick said there was “a time about 1996 when there was serious snow.” He was “kind of prepared” for snowblowing and such then. Sherick recalled a two or three foot pile of snow on carports around town in 1992, causing concern that the carports might collapse.  

“We shoveled and recovered,” Sherick explained, since the snowstorms weren’t long lasting.

“Back when we were high school kids in the ‘50s and '60s,” Sherick remembered having three or four snow days a year, which the kids loved. “It seemed like we always had snow.” 

To counteract the Dec. 29 snow, City of Polson, Lake County and State of Montana crews ran snowplows all day and most of the night to try to keep streets, roads and highways clear.

Polson road superintendent Terry Gembala and two road crew members started working at 5 a.m. on Dec. 29 and kept going until 2 a.m., slept for a while and then “pushed snow” until 10 p.m. On New Year’s Eve day, the road crew worked from 2 a.m. until 2 p.m. 

“We pretty much got through town at least once,” Gembala said. “If we don’t get more snow, we’re in pretty good shape.” 

He asked that Polson residents be patient with his crew since they only have three people. Polson Parks Superintendent Karen Sargeant and Mike Johnson helped the roads crew by plowing some of the dead end streets, Gembala added. City workers also worked downtown, around the courthouse and the post office to clear the snow. Loaders filled dumptrucks with snow near Beacon Tire and on Main Street Thursday, Dec. 30, then hauled it out of town to clear the streets.

City residents can help road crews by bringing their garbage cans in from the street as soon as they’re emptied, Gembala explained. If it’s possible, moving vehicles off the street, will also aid snowplow drivers. One common complaint from homeowners is blocked driveways, but Gembala said there is not much to be done about that since the streets and roads need to be cleared.

While the snowplows were busy in the streets, area businesses were looking out for their workers.  

First Interstate Bank sent all employees home at 3:30 p.m.; workers who lived out of town left earlier to get home safely. Polson City Hall closed its doors about 2:30 p.m. 

Some downtown merchants, such as Jackie M’s Footwear, also closed down early. 

Cody Grove, Polson Wal-Mart Manager, said the store remained open with a skeleton crew as employees who lived in St. Ignatius and Lakeside were sent home early.

Lake County Courthouse also kept all the county offices open albeit with smaller staffs. County workers who lived out of town were sent home early. 

Snowplows mounted on pickups and four wheelers with blades worked late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. Area residents shoveled and pushed snowblowers to clear walks and driveways, some as many as three times to try to keep ahead of the snow. Many vehicles were still buried on Dec. 30.

Polson Police Department Detective Alan Booth said there’d only been a couple of accidents although there were lots of slide-ins. The slide-ins were mostly people who couldn’t get out of their driveways, Booth added.

Assistant Chief John Stevens agreed, complimenting drivers around town with doing a good job and driving slowly. 

Polson residents can keep shoveling, snowblowing and scraping windshields because extended forecasts show snow for most of the week ahead. 

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