Updraft: March 18, 2010 Archive

Crow River defies expected crest, still rising

Posted at 8:48 AM on March 18, 2010 by Paul Huttner
Filed under: Crow River, Flooding

It may not be the mighty Mississippi or the raging Red, but the "little river that could" will not be denied this year.

Of all the stories during this week of flood watching, the south fork of Crow River is the most interesting to me. Earlier this week the river was forecast to crest Wednesday at 15 feet in Mayer. That forecast has been updated as the week progressed, but the Crow had other ideas. As of Thursday morning the Crow River still has not crested at Mayer, and stands at a level of 16.03 feet.

NWS forecasts updated the still rising Crow River at Mayer again this morning.

Last night's forecast for the Crow at Mayer suggested a crest of 15.9 feet.

This marks the 5th highest flood of record on the Crow at Mayer so far, just shy of the 16.05 ft on 04/07/1997. Here are the top 10 floods of record on the Crow at Mayer.

Historical Crests: Crow River at Mayer

(1) 19.23 ft on 04/13/1965
(2) 16.50 ft on 04/14/2001
(3) 16.48 ft on 04/11/1969
(4) 16.05 ft on 04/07/1997
(5) 16.02 ft on 3/18/2010** (so far)
(6) 16.00 ft on 06/23/1957
(7) 15.70 ft on 04/10/1952
(8) 13.93 ft on 05/04/1986
(9) 13.90 ft on 04/30/1975
(10) 13.76 ft on 04/05/1979

Deep snowpack feeds the Crow:

The main reason the Crow is defying forecasters this year lies in the deep snowpack that has bracketed the river's watershed this year. Some of the heaviest snow bands have fallen in the upper reaches of the south fork of the Crow River near Cosmos this winter. Looking at today's NOHRSC image below, you can still see some snow cover southeast of Willmar and east of Olivia in the upper Crow river watershed which includes Buffalo Creek.

The good news is the Crow will likely begin to fall in Mayer today or tomorrow. It remains to be seen how well the river behaves downstream in Watertown, Delano and Rockford.

PH

Update: NWS raises St. Paul crest forecast again

Posted at 4:13 PM on March 18, 2010 by Paul Huttner
Filed under: Crow River, Flooding, Mississippi River

Hydrologists at the River Forecast Center in the Twin Cities have raised the forecast crest for the Mississippi again. Today's latest updated raised the expected crest of the Mississippi River in St. Paul next Wednesday to 19.8 feet. That's an increase of 1.8 feet from Wednesday's forecast.

Latest NWS hydrograph for the Mississippi in St. Paul raises the forecast crest to 19.8 feet next week.

If the river reaches 19.8 feet as forecast, that would be the 7th highest flood of record for the Mississippi in St. Paul.

Historical Crests: Mississippi River at St. Paul

(1) 26.01 ft on 04/16/1965
(2) 24.52 ft on 04/15/1969
(3) 23.76 ft on 04/18/2001
(4) 23.60 ft on 04/30/2001
(5) 22.37 ft on 04/13/1997
(6) 22.02 ft on 04/16/1952
(7) 19.15 ft on 06/26/1993
(8) 18.79 ft on 04/16/1951
(9) 16.68 ft on 06/29/1957
(10) 16.10 ft on 05/16/1986

The surprising rises on the Crow River may be one reasons NWS is boosting the crest at St. Paul. Stay tuned into early next week as we watch to see just how high the mighty Mississippi will go.

PH

U of M Extension answers flood questions online, on phone

Posted at 11:46 PM on March 18, 2010 by Melanie Sommer
Filed under: Flooding

The University of Minnesota Extension says it's set up a system of online and phone answer resources for people who have flood-related questions.

The extension's flood impact Web site has information on flood response, safety and cleanup questions -- like how to clean out a basement that's been flooded, and how to deal with septic systems.

You can also get information over the phone on the extension's flood information line (1-800-232-9077) and the answer line (1-800-854-1678).