| Episode Narrative |
This flood event began for many counties in late March, then continued through April and into May. After the winter storm event that dumped up to two feet of snow over portions of the region from March 29th through April 1st, temperatures remained below normal through the tenth of the month. Luckily, there were no other big rain or snow events through this time. However, being early April, the snowpack left on the ground did continue to melt. The remaining snowpack was deepest across the Devils Lake region, the far southern Red River Valley, and in the Sheyenne River Valley. The melting snow across the Devils Lake drainage area led to numerous road closures and a steady April rise in lake levels at Devils Lake and Stump Lake. By the end of April, Devils Lake had risen to about 1449.40 feet MSL and Stump Lake had risen to about 1448.90 feet MSL. The nearly two feet of new snow in the late March winter storm event caused additional overland flooding and river rises in the southern Red River Valley. The snowmelt in the Sheyenne River basin led to grave concerns from Lake Ashtabula on through Valley City, Lisbon, and areas along the river to its junction with the Red north of Fargo. To try to increase storage in Lake Ashtabula, releases were increased from Baldhill Dam, which dropped the lake level to 1260.50 feet MSL. Runoff into the lake then resulted in the lake level rising to 1269.50 feet MSL by late April. This gives a good perspective of how much water was moving overland and through the river system near the Sheyenne River. With the higher terrain this water moved through, many roads, bridges, and low points were washed out or covered with lakes of water. The rest of the month of April continued with below normal temperatures, while the climate reporting site at Fargo measured below normal precipitation amounts. |
