It's been a very snowy winter so it should come as no surprise that the flood risks in Minnesota are going to be high as well. There's a 60-percent chance that the Mississippi River will be creeping up close to our backdoor here at the museum in the latest forecast announced today. Start packing the sandbags right now in Moorhead and Fargo. There's a 98-percent chance that the Red River will flood this spring.
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You know, I've been wondering for a few years now what's going to happen to those condos off of Shepard Road (just below downtown and the SMM) when the river floods, because it was bound to happen.
Maybe they're up high enough to be safe, but there might be a lot of "I told you so"s on the way.
I wish I had pictures from the flood of 2000? 2001? We had to sandbag the museum on the District Energy side. The train tracks were underwater, and I saw folks in a canoe on Shepard Road.
These photos were taken April 22, 2001. I believe you can click on them to get a larger view, though my digital photography skillz were somewhat less than mad at that time, so don't expect too much.
flood5: Mississippi River flood, April 22, 2001Courtesy Eugene Dillenburg
flood4: Mississippi River flood, April 22, 2001Courtesy Eugene Dillenburg
flood3: Mississippi River flood, April 22, 2001Courtesy Eugene Dillenburg
flood2: Mississippi River flood, April 22, 2001Courtesy Eugene Dillenburg
flood1: Mississippi River flood, April 22, 2001Courtesy Eugene Dillenburg
Wow! I'd have to find a new route home if this happens again.
Hey John, check it: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/17/st-paul-riverfro...
Cool! I'd like to travel in a canoe!
The National Weather Service predicts that the Red River will crest at Fargo/Moorhead this week at 38 feet, just 3 feet short of last year's record. This comes more than a week earlier than last year's crest.
We're setting up the webcam in the Mississippi River Gallery so we can watch the river rise. I heard this morning that the Mississippi is expected to reach flood stage late this week or over the weekend. Stay tuned...
The Mississippi at the Ford Pkwy Bridge was running much higher than last week with a LOT of big ice chunks in it. Not much of that ice here at the Museum, but it is coming this way.
The river at Fort Snelling is already over 13".
Ice jams are a big concern. According to the National Weather Service,
(The all-caps is their writing, not mine.)
Take a look at stream gauge data for downtown St. Paul: the river's risen more than a foot today already. It's currently running at just under 7', on its way to a predicted 16"4'.
16'4" is high water, alright. In fact, 16'4" would place 10th on a list of the top-10 historical crests here in downtown St. Paul. But it's nowhere near the 2001 crest, at 23.76", or the 1965 crest (the historical record level) at 26.01".
On the other hand, the river's also running about a foot higher than forecast right now. So we'll see what happens.
Landmarks to think about:
Forecast was increased this morning to just under 17'.
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