STEVENSVILLE – The Bitterroot Valley is used to snow in February but 1″-to2″ an hour is a little out of the ordinary.
Schools around the area are closed and some businesses are even closing their doors a little early for the day. In Hamilton, they declared a snow emergency meaning all cars need to be taken out of snow routes and drivers are being urged to stay off the roads.
“Road conditions are not good. It’s snow and ice out there…blowing, drifting snow. The roads are icy which makes it hard to pass,” Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Shaun Silvan said on Monday.
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“It’s snowing pretty hard right now so the plows are having a rough time keeping up. Department of Transportation is doing a great job, they’re out there working hard to get the roads plowed. But it’s snowing so much that it’s hard to keep up with it,” he added.
People were urged to stay home and stay off the streets, but if you have to hop on any roadways you should really listen to one piece of advice from MHP.
“Slow down that’s one of the biggest things. Don’t be in a rush, just because you go a little bit faster your probably only going to get to your destination within a minute or two if you would have just slowed down,” Silvan explained.
“You can just take a little extra time. Take a couple of minutes and that will get you to your destination almost as fast and it will get you there safely.”
MHP troopers say low visibility is the reason for many crashes and they advise people to use more caution and slow down.
