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NWS Expects Crest Today: Red River Should Top Out at 48 Feet

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Mike Brue and Elisa Rineheart, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Apr. 6--The Red River flood crest decided to wait a day for Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.

For the northern Red River Valley, an earlier threat of rain that offered to prolong flooding but not raise river levels decided to move much farther south.

For many people, the latter news made Wednesday's 60 degree high in Grand Forks feel even better and the crest delay more tolerable.

By this morning, the river was expected to reach a 48-foot crest several inches higher than the previous crest forecast of 47.7 feet to arrive Wednesday.

That's still more than six feet shy of April 1997's stunning 54.4-foot record for the two cities, and about six feet short of topping even the temporary dike improvements used to fill caps in the communities' mostly-completed flood protection project.

The National Weather Service in Grand Forks says this revised crest should stay with us a day or so before beginning a slow descent.

The river was fluctuating between 47.7 feet and 47.8 feet Wednesday evening after spending a whole day climbing about 6 inches. Twenty-four hours earlier the river was at 47.3 feet.

Hoeven visits

Gov. John Hoeven congratulated Grand Forks on Wednesday for a "job well done" in fortifying the dike system and preparing for the flood, but said that the fight is not over yet.

"Although Grand Forks and communities throughout the region are much better prepared than they were in 1997, we are taking nothing for granted," Hoeven said.

Hoeven made an aerial inspection along the northern border from Walsh County to Grand Forks.

Hoeven mobilized the National Guard and other state resources to assist in flood response efforts last week. The National Guard has provided heavy equipment and personnel in support of civil authorities. More than 50 guard members were deployed to assist in the construction and monitoring of temporary dikes.

Engineering and sandbagging equipment has been staged at the Grand Forks National Guard Armory.

A Black Hawk helicopter will be placed in Grand Forks as a precautionary measure to assist in emergency evacuations in the Red River Valley if necessary.

Hoeven toured the Grand Forks dike and the south end of town, where flooding north of the Country Club is restricting access to about 40 homes.

Kind weather

A weather system originally expected to bring rain to the Red River basin, with perhaps heavy thundershowers south of Grand Forks, ended up moving well south of the region. A chance of showers remains today and tonight, but strictly south of Interstate 94 and no more than a 10th of an inch of rain is expected.

South Dakota, southern Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska will catch the brunt of the wet weather instead, the forecast says.

"Mainly, it's an area of high pressure in central Canada that will act to basically almost block the moisture from coming this far north," said meteorologist Dan Riddle of the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks. "The high is moving southward through Canada and will move through our area" today.

The weather service says the next chance for rain showers will come Monday and Tuesday. Until then, cooler but drier weather is in the forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, though the sun likely will be visible much of that time, Riddle said. Highs could be in the 40s Friday, but 50s and, just maybe, low 60s by Monday.

The six- to 10-day weather outlook calls for above-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation.

Another bridge closed

To the north, the day was not so kind to travelers accustomed to using the Red River bridge east of Drayton, N.D.

Water over the North Dakota approach on state Highway 66 Wednesday prompted highway officials to close bridge traffic for a period that could last several weeks.

The bridge, which connects with Minnesota Highway 11 on the east side, is the most traveled U.S. bridge north of Grand Forks-East Grand Forks.

The Kennedy Bridge at Gateway Drive-U.S. Highway 2 remained the last of three bridges still open Wednesday between Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.

Reach Brue at (701) 780-1267, (800) 477-6572, ext. 267; or mbrue@gfherald.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)

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