A slow warmup over the next few days means there is only a low risk of flooding throughout Minnesota, with the potential for some minor floods at spots along the Minnesota River, the National Weather Service said Monday.
That prediction comes despite a record-breaking snowfall total of 26 inches for the month of April for measurements taken at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said National Weather Service hydrologist Craig Schmidt.
"The forecast conditions are about as perfect as could be to take the snow away without it all going at once," he said.
The orderly meltdown over the next few days comes thanks to daytime temps of 5 to 10 degrees above freezing and below-freezing temps overnight, along with dry air, he said.
Some low-lying areas, remote gravel roads and perhaps a few basements might get wet as our record-setting snowfall melts, but nothing in the forecast right now looks serious, Schmidt said.
"It could be much, much worse," he said.
The junction of the Chippewa and Minnesota rivers in Montevideo could see minor flooding by the weekend, Schmidt said, along with the Cottonwood River near New Ulm and the Redwood River near Redwood Falls.
As of midday Monday, however, none of the National Weather Service's river gauges in Minnesota showed anything above normal river levels.
