New Flood Warnings for Minnesota Rivers

Doppler Update at 1:30 pm. The band of moderate/heavy rain is lifting north of the Twin Cities (reports of thunder/lightning and pea-size hail). With frozen/saturated ground any falling rain (and melting snow) will immediately run off into storm sewers, streams and rivers in the coming days. this is just the first of many flood warnings - stay tuned for more updates.

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN

108 PM CST THU MAR 11 2010

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN MINNESOTA...

MINNESOTA RIVER AT MONTEVIDEO AFFECTING CHIPPEWA...LAC QUI PARLE...RENVILLE AND YELLOW MEDICINE COUNTIES

MINNESOTA RIVER AT HENDERSON AFFECTING LE SUEUR...SCOTT AND SIBLEY COUNTIES

MINNESOTA RIVER AT SAVAGE AFFECTING DAKOTA...HENNEPIN AND SCOTT COUNTIES

CROW RIVER AT ROCKFORD MN AFFECTING HENNEPIN AND WRIGHT COUNTIES

SOUTH FORK CROW RIVER AT DELANO MN AFFECTING WRIGHT COUNTY

SOUTH FORK CROW RIVER BELOW MAYER AFFECTING CARVER COUNTY

A SLOW MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT.

THE RAINFALL OCCURRING ACROSS THE UPPER MINNESOTA VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON IS EXPECTED TO PUSH TO THE NORTH AND WEST AND EXIT THE AREA BY THIS EVENING. AN ADDITIONAL QUARTER TO UPWARDS OF A HALF OF AN INCH OF RAIN IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE UPPER MINNESOTA VALLEY AND IN THE CROW SYSTEM THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT.

ANOTHER BAND OF RAIN IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION ON FRIDAY AND WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS WITH THIS SECOND BAND WILL AVERAGE BETWEEN

0.3 TO ROUGHLY 0.5 INCHES. DUE TO UNCERTAINTY IN THE LOCATION AND TIMING OF THE RAINFALL EXPECTED ON FRIDAY...THIS FORECAST PRECIPITATION IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RIVER FORECASTS. AS WE ARE ABLE TO GET A BETTER HANDLE ON THE FUTURE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS AND LOCATION...IT WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE RIVER FORECASTS. SO PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

ANOTHER FACTOR IMPACTING THE SNOWMELT IS OUR CONTINUED ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. HIGHS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WILL BE 40 TO AROUND 45 ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. TEMPERATURES FOR SUNDAY AND INTO TUESDAY WILL TYPICALLY BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 40S WITH HIGHS PUSHING AROUND 50 IN THE LOWER MINNESOTA AND CROW RIVER STYSTEM ON MONDAY. THESE WARM HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE THE SNOW MELT. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING SO NO REFREEZING IN THE NIGHT TIME HOURS.

ICE AND DEBRIS JAMS ARE ALSO A CONCERN AS THIS EVENT UNFOLDS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

IF YOU OBSERVE AN ICE OR DEBRIS JAM PLEASE REPORT THIS TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IMMEDIATELY. YOU CAN EMAIL REPORTS DIRECTLY TO THE NWS VIA MPX.SPOTTER@NOAA.GOV.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS FLOOD EVENT.