Another spring = another flood fight with the Red River

It is begining to seem like a spring tradition. The flood fight begins to hold back the Red. I am in Fargo, ND and we have already made sandbags and are putting them in areas that still have the dikes and levees not high enough for the forcasted crest of the river at 40 feet. Flood stage is 18 feet.
water.weather.gov

Every year we hold our breath hoping there is no breach in the dikes. Sooner or later something has to give just from erosion.

This weekend is going to be very scary for us if we get the rain that is predicted for us. This will start a very fast melt and the ground has not de frosted yet from the incredibly cold winter. The water will just run off.

www.fargoflooding.com...

The thing that really sucks is that we are so dependant on weather all the way up into Canada. The Red River flows north and is extremely susceptible to ice jams further north of us. With the ice blocking the flow of the river it backs up into Fargo and makes things worse.

nd.water.usgs.gov...

The best situation we can ask for is temperatures in the 40's during the day and freezing temperatures at night. With this cycle it allows for a very slow even melt and a lot less water to worry about. Unfortunately if history is our guide it will not happen this way.

Our battle for our town is about to begin anew I pray we can hold back nature for one more year.

Reply to post by lcbjr1979

Good luck this year, I hope there is not a lot of ground water still ready to thaw or that water won't go anywhere .


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by Cataclysm6Child


Unfortunately the ground is saturated. We had a wet fall and a quick freeze. Its shaping up to be a perfect storm.

Reply to post by lcbjr1979

Yikes, that's exactly what happened last year here, washed the double lane high way clean out. Of course only having one road in Canada, it made for a interesting occurrence


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

this post caught my attention right away because I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and i am afraid i don't have good news for you if your flood fallout is from the Red River.

last November here we were already getting flooding and houses were getting flood damage. the city began sandbagging at that point and has continued ever since. i know flooding has been a trending topic in the local news here all winter, and officials are saying this years spring will be comparable to/if not worse then 1997's Flood Of The Century as it was named here in Canada.

The Red River Flood of 1997 was a major flood that occurred in April and May 1997, along the Red River of the North in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Southern Manitoba. It was the most severe flood of the river since 1826. The flood reached throughout the Red River Valley, affecting the cities of Fargo and Winnipeg, but none so greatly as in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, where floodwaters reached over 3 miles (5 km) inland, inundating virtually everything in the twin communities. Total damages for the Red River region were US$3.5 billion

1997 Red River Flood

Wow! $3.5 Billion in damager! I thought Manitoba got it bad at $500 million in damages! So this next news especially isn't going to be good for down your way...

As for precipitation, Canada experienced a normal year in 2010, 0.4% above normal, ranked as the 38th wettest out of the 63-years of record. The wettest year was 2005, 13.4% above normal, and the driest year was 1956, 7.3% below normal. The precipitation percent departure map below shows southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, northern Nunavut and the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador all experienced at least 20% more precipitation than average this past year.

Environment Canada - Climate Trends and Variations Bulletin For 2010

this i can attest to, not because i have noticed more precipitation over any other year, but because the last time i remember seeing rain/snow storms as intense/heavy as they were last year/all winter was in 1996 which was the year leading up to The Flood Of The Century, and also Canada's most expensive year ever caused from extreme weather.

so i am sorry to say it is looking pretty grim. in Winnipeg we have the Red River Floodway which is an artificial waterway to divert water away from flooding the city as it did in 1997 and was the sole reason why the downtown/core of the city wasn't flooded out. apparently it has been improved since then. i hope your area has prepared something like this since the damages of 1997, and that Minnesota has also been preparing for the coming spring like Manitoba which has been doing A LOT for it's residence. I was very surprised to see the province offer to subside the cost of installing/upgrading sub pumps to everyone falling within the flood areas - thumbs up for that.

anyhow we shall see! you should keep an eye on Environment Canada, and even check out the local news for Winnipeg (CBC, Global, etc) to keep up to date!

Good Luck!!

reply to post by loagun


Thank you. It is nice to hear from someone who has real world experience with this. It seems like every year they say it is a once in a century type flood doesnt it.

We do not have any diversion like you have. We have been trying hard for it but of course politcs has gotten into the way. We share the river with Moorhead MN. This amounts to who is gonna pay for it and maintain it, where is it gonna go, people will have to bought out of thier houses for it to go in. Grand Forks ND, which was hit really bad in 97 built flood walls that pretty much assure the city to be safe.

your welcome. i will save your member name and message you any weather alerts i hear about here concerning flooding or possible flooding!

reply to post by loagun


How is the melt going up there, we are starting to rise down here.

For this upcoming 2012 spring season in Manitoba it doesn’t seem like there will be another flood like the ones that Manitoba has had in recent years. It seems unseasonably warm in Canada this winter.

‘Winnipeg Breaks 28-year-old Temperature Record for 05 January’
CTV Winnipeg News, 05 January 2012

Winnipeggers accustomed to bone-chilling temperatures in January are continuing to get a break from the cold. On Thursday, the city broke the 05 January record for a daytime temperature. The previous record for a daytime high in Winnipeg on 05 January was set in 1984 when it reached 4.3° C. By 4 PM Thursday, the temperature in the city was sitting at 6.1° C. . . .

Winnipeg’s normal daytime high for this time of year is -13° C, while lows usually sit at around -24° C.

winnipeg.ctv.ca...

I used to live in Winnipeg and I can tell you that I’ve experienced many winters with -30° C temperatures (-40° C with the wind chill). This is why Winnipeg is nicknamed ‘Winterpeg’ and the windiest and coldest street corner in all of Canada is said to be at Main Street and Portage Avenue. This spring, though, there most likely won’t be enough meltwater runoff from snow and ice to cause any flooding in Manitoba.