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Upper MS river and tributaries spring 2011 flood thread


janetjanet998

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MS river, WI river, MN river etc

The potential for spring flooding remains above average for most of the Coulee region, especially on the Mississippi River, despite an early thaw.

It is safe to expect at least minor flooding on the Mississippi, and there's a high potential that water levels will reach moderate or even major flood stage even with ideal melting conditions, according to a flood outlook issued this morning by the National Weather Service.

"The Mississippi itself is the one we're really concerned about this year because so much water is waiting to come through," said Mike Welvaert, hydrologist with the National Weather Service in La Crosse. "And the river is already pretty high."

http://lacrossetribu...1cc4c03286.html

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This latest thaw didn't have much of an effect on the Minnesota River. The gauge at Jordan has risen a foot in the last two days, but the gauge downstream has actually dropped possible from an ice jam, as that is a common area for ice jams on the Minnesota River. Sand Creek near the Jordan gauge has risen 3 feet in the last 24 hours, so that is probably the primary cause of the rise in this specific area.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The Minnesota River at Jordan(closest to me) has risen about .5 feet since midnight on Tuesday. With the last thaw in Feb., the river ended up rising from 12 feet to 18 feet. Since then the river dropped to a bit below 15 feet.

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Looks like it stayed well above freezing overnight in southern MN, and will mostly be above through Tuesday.

The MN river in Mankato has rose about 3 feet here in the last 24 hours, A little bit higher then the forecast. A little bit different then last spring though, Last spring we had huge chunks of ice floating down the river, Its a bit more open now.

mnkm5_hg.png

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The MN river in Mankato has rose about 3 feet here in the last 24 hours, A little bit higher then the forecast. A little bit different then last spring though, Last spring we had huge chunks of ice floating down the river, Its a bit more open now.

I was looking at the historical crests of the Minnesota at Mankato and something stood out. Of the top 10 crests, 8 were spring flooding. Only last year's (10th highest) was in March. I'm not a hydrologist, but I wonder if there is something to be said about having an earlier melt vs one later. I can imagine if you guys were cold through the end of March, then warmed up quick in April, that would be a bad scenario. This early, moderately paced thaw must be good news.

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Up to 18 feet this morning at the gauge in Jordan. It's really started to climb. As of yesterday in this area, the MN River is still pretty much completely ice covered. I could see obvious discoloration in the ice where the cracks were forming, but it hadn't begun to break up yet. It may be a different story this morning, though.

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I was looking at the historical crests of the Minnesota at Mankato and something stood out. Of the top 10 crests, 8 were spring flooding. Only last year's (10th highest) was in March. I'm not a hydrologist, but I wonder if there is something to be said about having an earlier melt vs one later. I can imagine if you guys were cold through the end of March, then warmed up quick in April, that would be a bad scenario. This early, moderately paced thaw must be good news.

Yes, It may not be so bad as once thought here. But all it would take is a nice soaker or wet pattern in April and we would probably have to worry about the river cresting even higher. Not so to worry about here in the city though, The concrete dike keeps us safe up to 37 feet! But if something ever happened to that dike, which is always possibility then it would be a disaster!

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Interesting read from MPX-

ALTHOUGH THE PAST WEEK HAS LED TO LESS SNOW COVER FOR FAR S MN/EC MN AND PORTIONS OF WC WI...THERE REMAINS A GOOD SNOW PACK ACROSS THE SW/W AND CENTRAL PART OF OUR FA. SOME OF THE RIVER MODELS ARE INDICATING A RISE OF AN ADDITIONAL FIVE FEET /ABV THE CURRENT FORECAST/ IN SOME LOCATIONS BASED ON THE HIGHER QPF AMTS THIS WEEK. THE COLDER WEATHER EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY WILL CAUSE ANY SHORT TERM ICE BREAK UP TO FREEZE BACK UP AGAIN. PLUS...THE ADDED SNOW COVER WILL LED TO A LONGER DURATION OF THE FLOODING ONCE THE COLD SNAP ENDS. ANYWAY...PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR FUTURE RIVER FORECAST WHICH WILL LIKELY BE HIGHER THAN THE CURRENT CREST. ..JLT..

Currently we are expected to crest at 27 feet, which would squeak in for the 5th highest ever, Last September we crested over 28 feet. It will be interesting how much rain we get and how it will impact the crests.

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