Tuesday, March 25, 1997

Widespread spring flooding predicted by NOAA

By J.T. SMITH / Farm Editor

Since spring officially began on the morning of March 20 last week, we've had some absolutely gorgeous days of sunshine following the many weeks of rain - especially in February.

Well - don't head for your ark just yet - but NOAA says more of the country is likely to see flooding <I>this spring<I> than in any year in the past decade.

That's the word from hydrologists of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA scientists have predicted flooding in their annual <I>Spring Hydrologic Outlook<I> just released.

With the "high prospect" or "severe flooding" in the upper Midwest and significant probabilities for some flooding in the West, the Mississippi, lower Missouri and Ohio valleys - and parts of the Southeast - NOAA says people should be prepared.

NOAA stressed that folks should know what to do protect themselves during flood events.

"We're very concerned that people recognize the dangers of floods and flash floods and take appropriate action," says Elbert W. Friday, Jr., NOAA assistant administrator for weather services. "During the recent flooding in the Ohio river basin, more than 20 people lost their lives."

Friday laments that many people perished in vehicles - and most of these fatalities occured in areas that were under flash flood and/or flood warnings.

Record flooding possible

The Red River of the North in North Dakota and Minnesota, and the James River in South Dakota could see record flooding, says Frank Richards of the National Weather Service (NWS).

"Snow cover in this area has unsually high water content," says Richards, chief of the NWS Hydrologic Information Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. "In addition, flooding is forecast to be widespread in the eastern Dakotas, southern portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and northern Iowa."

As a result of inflow from so many tributaries, some minor to moderate flooding is virtually certain on the lower Missouri and the Mississippi rivers.

To the west, there also is considerable concern for spring flooding in the northern and central Rocky Mountains - particularly in Idaho and parts of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado as snowpack totals are significantly above average.

Much of Washington and northern Oregon also have exceptional snowpacks and are in jeopardy of spring flooding.

Texas also in risky area

Other areas of elevated risk for spring flooding include the Great Lakes region and also much of the area from eastern Texas through South Carolina.

The Spring Flood Outlook for the nation is a compilation of flood outlooks prepared by the NWS river forecast centers and weather forecast offices.

Internet surfers can ride the wave of flood forecasts on the National Weather Service web site at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/nho.