Weather Service firms up 41-foot crest prediction for Fargo for Saturday

The National Weather Service in Grand Forks said today that the Red River will crest at a record-setting 41 feet on Saturday, with the crest lasting two to three days.
The 41-foot level was the high end of the 39- to 41-foot crest the weather service has predicted since Sunday.
“They’re going with the higher end of the range,” said Mike Lukes, a weather service hydrologist. “It looks like the water going into Fargo will be higher than the 1997 values.”
The snow that fell Tuesday night and today in much of the Red River Valley added from half an inch to an inch of new moisture to the basin.
The precipitation is not a major factor in the latest crest prediction, since most of the moisture from the snowstorm won’t enter streams until next week, forecasters said.
Forecasters said there is a chance for more precipitation early next week, Monday or Tuesday, but moisture from that system is expected to be less than precipitation this week.
Once the Red River crests in Fargo-Moorhead, forecasters expected the river to remain at elevated levels for a week.

Pat Springer, Forum reporter

March 25, 2009

Posted by: floodblogger on 3/25/2009 at 1:02 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

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