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2013 flood


darell1976

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Here is a topic that was gladly missed last year....flooding. The ugly F word is back. Here in Fargo our river is at 14.22 (pretty much frozen). Flood stage is 18ft (meaning the closure of Elm Street south of 15th Ave N, so no big deal). Without a diversion, they have been buying out houses, building flood walls here and there, but the city is still vulnerable. We have a 70% chance of 31ft meaning diking up 2nd Ave downtown with sandbags (yes that word gets to enter everyone's vocabulary again). But with these late storms having more water in them, and snowfall piling up..its getting a little on the worry side. I hope everyone is prepared for what could be a surprise flood. Just because we had a drought over the summer doesn't mean this fight won't happen. Be prepared and be safe.

Flood prediction for Fargo: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/period.php?wfo=fgf&gage=fgon8

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Here is a topic that was gladly missed last year....flooding. The ugly F word is back. Here in Fargo our river is at 14.22 (pretty much frozen). Flood stage is 18ft (meaning the closure of Elm Street south of 15th Ave N, so no big deal). Without a diversion, they have been buying out houses, building flood walls here and there, but the city is still vulnerable. We have a 70% chance of 31ft meaning diking up 2nd Ave downtown with sandbags (yes that word gets to enter everyone's vocabulary again). But with these late storms having more water in them, and snowfall piling up..its getting a little on the worry side. I hope everyone is prepared for what could be a surprise flood. Just because we had a drought over the summer doesn't mean this fight won't happen. Be prepared and be safe.

Flood prediction for Fargo: http://water.weather...=fgf&gage=fgon8

And you have got more snow coming in Sunday night and Monday.
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And you have got more snow coming in Sunday night and Monday.

That's got me a little concerned is all these snowstorms which would be no big deal in January as it would have little precip in it due to cold air but temps in the 20's to almost 30 is going to add a lot of water so these 5-6 inch storms could really increase the flood chances. Our snow water equivalency is at 2.21" which is quite a bit.

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That's got me a little concerned is all these snowstorms which would be no big deal in January as it would have little precip in it due to cold air but temps in the 20's to almost 30 is going to add a lot of water so these 5-6 inch storms could really increase the flood chances. Our snow water equivalency is at 2.21" which is quite a bit.

Looks like it could be another panic in Fargo this spring. While in Grand Forks it will another day of no sandbagging and nothing to worry about.
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fargo does have alot more snow than grand forks right now, but its nowhere near 2009 *yet*

Which is good but the SWE is over 2" and that is never good, especially with these late snow storms. Our SWE is almost near 2009 however its not as widespread as in 09 so that's good for overland flooding, plus the river started out (late fall/early winter) roughly 4 feet below flood stage compared to at flood stage in 09. Lets all hope for the best.

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I live in Fargo and there are many in town who think the recent flood talk is centered around keeping the diversion relevant. Two dry springs in a row would make it pretty tough to justify spending $1 billion on the project.

I look at my neighborhood and drive south of Fargo and the snow levels are no where near two years ago. I know all it takes is a couple real big March snow storms and a quick thaw to change all that though so I'll keep my fingers crossed..

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I live in Fargo and there are many in town who think the recent flood talk is centered around keeping the diversion relevant. Two dry springs in a row would make it pretty tough to justify spending $1 billion on the project.

I look at my neighborhood and drive south of Fargo and the snow levels are no where near two years ago. I know all it takes is a couple real big March snow storms and a quick thaw to change all that though so I'll keep my fingers crossed..

I think this flood will justify putting up a permanent flood wall on 2nd street in front of city hall despite opposition from the sidestreet pub at the Howard Johnson. If the river hits 30 feet they have to close the street and spend time and money making a dike on the road, where they could just move the road over, take out the bar, and save money in the long run.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not good news down here!!

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/393906/

The National Weather Service said Thursday morning that the Red River in Fargo has a 50 percent chance of topping 38.1 feet when it floods this spring and a 10 percent chance of exceeding 40.9 feet, which would top the record-setting crest of 40.84 feet in 2009.

The chance a 41.3-foot Fargo flood is 5 percent, the weather service predicts.

Going into April you can go from 30's to 60's in a heartbeat plus a thunderstorm could mess things up greatly.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Fargo was on the National news and the weather channel for its upcoming flood. Seems like a lot of rain/snow will be showing its ugly head in the next couple weeks while temps will slowly climb by mid month to get this flood underway. Still a lot of snow to melt, and sandbags to fill. I am glad Grand Forks doesn't have this problem, because if Fargo evacuates....I need somewhere to hang out.

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So being totally ignorant of the reasons, why can't Fargo figure out a plan to control this constant flooding problem? Is it politics or are the logistics just too difficult? I assume the feds would pick up the biggest chunk of the cost, so there must be something else in play?

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The city of Fargo is generally very safe at 38'. 50% chance of getting to that level and I'm going way under as of today. The ground heading into this winter was nowhere as saturated as it was in '09, '10 and '11. Now heavy rains could change that but the forecast is for a slow melt the next 10 days and little significant precipitation. Walaker said 32'...I'll split it and go 35'.

To the question above..we blame everything on Al Carlson!!!

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The city of Fargo is generally very safe at 38'. 50% chance of getting to that level and I'm going way under as of today. The ground heading into this winter was nowhere as saturated as it was in '09, '10 and '11. Now heavy rains could change that but the forecast is for a slow melt the next 10 days and little significant precipitation. Walaker said 32'...I'll split it and go 35'.

To the question above..we blame everything on Al Carlson!!!

Very true Al Carlson is preventing any more money to be paid for a diversion until the Feds chip in ( and you know how long that could be). Very political issue and needs to be solved right away with either a flood wall or a diversion. This sandbagging thing is very old!!

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My thoughts- A protection that does not involve a diversion may put a halt to Fargo's growth to the south. Any growth west or east is a different city and Fargo is limited to the north as well. There may be other options, cheaper options that help protect from the river, but until the diversion is completely wrote off, "they won't work".

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It's raining in Fargo. #notgood

It's been raining off and on since Friday night. River rising a little from the rain but only because there is a lot of ice on the river and snow in the fields from here to the SD border.

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Looks like a possible 6-12 inches maybe more in the valley. Hutch said around the 23rd could be the trigger to start the 2013 flood. This snowstorm isn't going to make things easier.

We were going to go to MSP this weekend but scrapped it because of weather, sounds like tomorrow will be decent and then start raining/snowing Saturday night for a day or two, you guys had a pretty decent winter until March then it went to heck.

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We were going to go to MSP this weekend but scrapped it because of weather, sounds like tomorrow will be decent and then start raining/snowing Saturday night for a day or two, you guys had a pretty decent winter until March then it went to heck.

Storm starts around midnight Saturday night and lasts until Monday. Only 5 1/2 months until we start this all over.

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Looks like a possible 6-12 inches maybe more in the valley. Hutch said around the 23rd could be the trigger to start the 2013 flood. This snowstorm isn't going to make things easier.

Heaviest snow is predicted to be north of I94. 2-4" in Fargo metro.

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I've seen 2-4", 5-10" and 7-14" on various predictions but all say heaviest from Devils Lake to GF and north of Fargo. I tend to ignore Hutch...an extremist. Believe he predicted a tsunami/tornado combo during the flood of '11!!!

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