Monday storm has little effect on Minnesota rivers, but Mississippi edges up

The storm that brought thunder, wind and rain to central and southern Minnesota as the workweek began left without affecting flooding on any of the state's major rivers, according to the National Weather Service.

Craig Schmidt, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen, said the recent rain would not affect existing flood levels.

"We kind of lucked out. We got half an inch to three-quarters of an inch over 24 hours," Schmidt said. "Where it was heavy, it didn't last long. It's not enough to affect the Mississippi River or Minnesota River forecasts."

The Mississippi River had started to rise again Monday in St. Paul, edging back into major flood stage levels, according to St. Paul city officials.

Several city roads, and some parks and trails, will remain closed until the river levels fully recede.

Greg Gust, a service hydrologist in Grand Forks, said rainfall over the Red River basin also was fairly low, "so there was no increased impacts on the current suite of flood forecasts."

"That said, there was a secondary rise, which occurred late last week as a result of the April 10th snow and rain that hit the West Central MN area," Gust wrote in an e-mail.

All stations on the Red River except Pembina are receding, Gust said.

One consequence of the increased releases was more flooding from White Rock Dam at the north end of Lake Traverse into Wahpeton, resulting in highway and bridge closures on both the sides of the Red River near Fairmount, N.D., Gust said.

As a result, he said, a few vehicles ran off the road, requiring swift water rescues in Richland County, N.D.

Gust said the Red River's second crest is well below the first, so the channels should be able to handle the flow.