KALISPELL – The widespread threat of flooding across Flathead and Lincoln counties has all but subsided for now, as blanket warnings were lifted Thursday in most of northwestern Montana.

“Since the rainfall has basically ended and the temperatures are cool, the threat of any rivers hitting flood stage is pretty insignificant,” meteorologist Leeann Allegretto said of northwest Montana. “If they haven’t already hit flood stage we don’t think they will.”

Allegretto, who works with the National Weather Service in Missoula, said precautionary flood warnings remained in place for the Stillwater River and the Whitefish River in Kalispell. Both of those rivers hovered around action stage late Thursday afternoon, but were on the decline.

The Stillwater River at Lawrence Park in Kalispell was just above its 7-foot action stage, cresting Thursday afternoon at 7.11 feet. The Whitefish River near its mouth stayed below its action stage of 8 feet, and Weather Service officials forecast it would remain at about 7.8 feet through the week.

Water levels on all forks of the Flathead River had also dropped significantly, Allegretto said, and in Lincoln County flood warnings were lifted on the Yaak and Fisher rivers, as was a countywide warning on all smaller streams.

“Our biggest issue right now is the Clark Fork River at Plains,” Allegretto said, adding that sections of River Road and Lower Lynch Creek Road were closed after a levee breached on private property and spilled into sewage pools. “That is not a good situation.”

The Flathead River near Columbia Falls, which threatened to flood low-lying areas Wednesday, crested at 13.74 feet, just below the 14-foot flood stage; water levels had dipped below 13 feet Thursday.

The Middle Fork of the Flathead River near West Glacier also approached flood stage Wednesday, peaking at 9.79 feet before dropping below 9 feet overnight. The North Fork of the Flathead also is running high, but is expected to stay below the 11-foot action stage through the week.

“The water is high, but it’s nothing unusual,” said Oliver Meister, owner of the North Fork Hostel and Inn in Polebridge. “I hope it’s going to stay that way.”

But even though flood warnings are being lifted, officials in Glacier National Park and the Flathead National Forest warned that rivers and streams continue to run high, and swift currents along with debris can pose safety hazards to boaters and other people recreating on the water.

Late lingering snowpack continues to affect runoff and flooding, and SNOTEL measuring sites show the most snowpack on record for this time of year, compared to about 25 years of data.