Name: Warm weekend, dry winter expected to shepherd easy Red River flood season
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Warm weekend, dry winter expected to shepherd easy Red River flood season

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ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTFARGO — The remainder of the snowpack in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area will likely be gone by the end of the upcoming warm weekend.Temperatures are expected to be 15 to 30 degrees above normal in most of the region and could close in on records.WDAY Stormtracker meteorologist John Wheeler said they are predicting a high of 63 in Fargo on Sunday, March 7, which would be just two degrees short of the 65-degree record high from 2016. Saturday's high is forecast at 54, far from the record of 66, he said.In Bismarck on Friday, the temperature is expected to hit 64 degrees, shy of the record of 70 for March 5 in 2000.It's like night and day from just a few weeks ago when temperatures and wind chills were brutal. Even in International Falls, Minn., where the temperature dipped to 42 below zero on Feb. 13, temperatures are forecast to reach 50 degrees for a day or two next week, according to AccuWeather.ADVERTISEMENTWheeler said it's "non-unprecedented" to have such high temperatures this time of year.There is a cooldown expected during the middle of next week, he said, and rain or snow showers are a possibility."However, models are showing that there isn't much of a threat" of heavy precipitation, Wheeler said. "It might get sloppy and messy."Cass County Engineer Jason Benson is fairly confident there won't be any significant flooding this year, a far cry from the past two years when it was touch and go."We're seeing conditions that are about as good as we could ask for," said Benson, who has extra duties each spring as he heads up the county's flood-fighting efforts.Two years ago, the flood levels hit 35 feet on the Red River in Fargo, and there was serious overland flooding in the northern part of the county and southern basin of the river.Last year, an extremely wet fall followed by some major snows led to concerns, but an almost perfect slow melt caused little flooding in the southern basin of the Red River. It was worse to the north in Grand Forks, and the small town of Oslo farther north saw some of its worst flooding ever, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Greg Gust.This year, it's expected to be much better, if not almost perfect, across the entire Red River Valley and into Minnesota along the Buffalo River.ADVERTISEMENT"I just don't see any issues," said Benson, who also monitors the Maple and Sheyenne rivers that feed into the Red River."I guess it just shows you how quickly things can turn around from year to year," he said.Gust said he would term this year as a "very low risk for any significant flooding."Benson and Wheeler said one reason is that most of the snowpack in the rural areas has already disappeared."Most of the snow in the fields is gone already," Wheeler said. Benson added that it's almost gone in most ditches that drain into streams and tributaries, too.There's some snow left in shaded areas in Fargo, Wheeler said, and a little more of a snowpack in Becker and Otter Tail counties in Minnesota.Gust said even a foot of snow or an inch of rain in the next week likely wouldn't cause any significant flooding as the ground is thawed up to about 8 inches deep, so any melting would likely just soak into the ground. He said the ground is still frozen in Fargo below that depth, while in Bismarck, where there has been little snow cover, the ground is only frozen 40 to 50 inches below the ground.He said even a little rain next week might be a good thing as there are worries about it being too dry heading into the spring planting season.ADVERTISEMENTWheeler agrees with Benson and Gust that it doesn't look like much of a chance for a flood this spring."With what we have, the rivers may not even get out of their banks," he said.Of course, there's always possibilities for problems.Even if a culvert plugs up in a ditch in the rural areas of the county, Benson said they have flood-fighting equipment and some safely stored sandbags in case a farm home is threatened. But he said even the culverts and county ditches are in good shape this year.Gust said the official forecast calls for an 83% chance of minor flooding in Fargo into May, with a 24% chance of moderate flooding and 10% chance of a major flood starting at 30 feet.There are well over 100 billion stars in the Milky Way.The increase in wind speed during the colder weather months is related to the difference in temperature between the polar and equatorial regions.The human death count is estimated to have been 6,000-10,000.One-third of the country is under water with the official death count at over 1,300 and rising.ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTFARGO — The remainder of the snowpack in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area will likely be gone by the end of the upcoming warm weekend.Temperatures are expected to be 15 to 30 degrees above normal in most of the region and could close in on records.WDAY Stormtracker meteorologist John Wheeler said they are predicting a high of 63 in Fargo on Sunday, March 7, which would be just two degrees short of the 65-degree record high from 2016. Saturday's high is forecast at 54, far from the record of 66, he said.In Bismarck on Friday, the temperature is expected to hit 64...

Warm weekend, dry winter expected to shepherd easy Red River flood season

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