Is our extended winter increasing the chance of a spring flood? This question has found its way into the weather office several times recently.
The Red River and its tributaries are most prone to flooding in spring when snowmelt combines with rain on frozen ground to produce more runoff than the river system can handle. But there is no reason snow has to be involved. Given enough rain, a flood disaster without snowmelt or frozen ground could happen.
This year, even with our bonus winter season, the water content of the snowpack is not nearly as impressive as in the years of the worst spring floods. If there were to be a serious flood in the next few weeks, it would take a great deal more snow or rain than there is at the moment.
