Where is Lake Missoula?

Montanaabout 110 kilometres (68 mi) northwest of Missoula, Montana, at the north end of the Camas Prairie Valley, just east of Montana Highway 382 and Macfarlane Ranch.

What was the story around Glacial Lake Missoula?

The Short Story



Glacial Lake Missoula formed as the Cordilleran Ice Sheet dammed the Clark Fork River just as it entered Idaho. The rising water behind the glacial dam weakened it until water burst through in a catastrophic flood that raced across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington toward the Pacific Ocean.

What caused the Lake Missoula flood?

These floods were the result of periodic sudden ruptures of the ice dam on the Clark Fork River that created Glacial Lake Missoula. After each ice dam rupture, the waters of the lake would rush down the Clark Fork and the Columbia River, flooding much of eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley in western Oregon.

How many times did Glacial Lake Missoula flood?

There may have been more than 40 major glacial floods (Waitt, 1980) recorded by bedded slack water deposits (rhythmites). The average interval between Missoula floods was about 30 years (Waitt and others, 1994). The last flood occurred 13,000 years ago.”

When was the Lake Missoula flood?

During the last Ice Age (18,000 to 12,000 years ago), and in multiple previous Ice Ages, cataclysmic floods inundated portions of the Pacific Northwest from Glacial Lake Missoula, pluvial Lake Bonneville, and perhaps from subglacial outbursts.

When did Lake Missoula drain?

A little after 19,000 years ago, water in Glacial Lake Missoula ruptured the ice dam, and the collected water went rushing downstream at speeds reaching 100 km/hr. Peak discharge in the Spokane Valley has been estimated at 17 +/- 3 million cubic meters per second, and drainage of the lake took several days.

Who discovered Lake Missoula?

J Harlen Bretz

How much water is emptied from Lake Missoula?

It is estimated that the maximum rate of flow was equal to 386 million cubic feet per second. At that rate, the lake probably drained in a few days.

What did Lake Missoula look like?

The ice dam was over 2000 feet tall. Glacial Lake Missoula was as big as Lakes Erie and Ontario combined. The flood waters ran with a force equal to 60 Amazon Rivers. Car-sized boulders embedded in ice floated some 500 miles; they can still be seen today!

Does Lake Missoula still exist?

Lake Missoula was a prehistoric proglacial lake in western Montana that existed periodically at the end of the last ice age between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago.

How long did it take Glacial Lake Missoula to drain?

two days

The repeated filling and collapse of the ice dam would drain an inland sea the size of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in two days. At its greatest extent, Glacial Lake Missoula stretched eastward a distance of some 200 miles.

Does the Clark Fork River flood?

Flooding from the Clark Fork River is impacting the Orchard Homes residential area. Flood waters are now flooding Tower Street, Kehrwald Drive and Channel Drive with 10 to 15 homes being flooded.



Flood Categories (in feet)

How fast does the Clark Fork River flow?

Clark Fork River

How cold is the Clark Fork River?

The only other real time water temperature site on the Clark Fork River is located on the lower river, 170 miles downstream of Garrison near Superior.

What feeds the Clark Fork River?

These mining wastes originated near the headwaters of the Clark Fork, in the heavy mining area surrounding Butte, Anaconda and Opportunity. These wastes ended up in the two primary feeder creeks that create the Clark Fork, Warm Springs Creek and Silver Bow Creek.

Is it safe to float the Clark Fork River?

We recommend floating one of the two most popular routes. You can end your float at Caras Park, or continue on to Silver Park. Floating past Silver Park on the Clark Fork is not advised.

Can you swim in Clark Fork River?

Popular valley activities include fishing, floating and rafting the Clark Fork River, sailing, swimming and boating on the river’s dammed tributaries, recreating in several national forests and mountain ranges, and city-based activities in the towns within its corridor.

How many times do you cross the Clark Fork River on I 90?

The Clark Fork continues to follow I-90 E and SE of Missoula. It is clearly marked as so on the Montana State Highway map. I should also note that after counting them again, there are actually 18 total crossings of the river on I-90.

Where is the lower Clark Fork Region?

The Lower Clark Fork Watershed (Hydologic Unit Code: 17010213) is the downstream-most portion of the Clark Fork Basin, composed of all the area (2,336 sq miles) draining into the Clark Fork River between its confluence with the Flathead River downstream to Lake Pend Oreille (see map above).

Who named the Clark Fork River?

William Clark

In the early 1800’s the Lewis and Clark Expedition explored much of the Clark Fork River Basin and it was eventually named after William Clark.

What river goes thru Missoula?

The Clark Fork River

The Clark Fork River runs about 310 miles long and is the largest river by volume in Montana. The Clark Fork River cuts straight through the heart of Missoula.

What city in Montana was A River Runs Through It filmed?

Although both the book and movie are set in Missoula and on the Blackfoot River, it was filmed in late June to early July 1991 in south central Montana in Livingston and Bozeman, and on the nearby upper Yellowstone, Gallatin, and Boulder Rivers.

What rivers were filmed in A River Runs Through It?

After the movie was released, anglers both veteran and rookie descended on Montana in droves to fish both the rivers in southwestern Montana where “River” was filmed (the upper Yellowstone, Gallatin and Boulder rivers), and the Blackfoot where the story was set.