It was a year ago today that the Red River first reached the flood stage of 18 feet at the Fargo gauge during the 2009 flood.
In seven days, the snowpack had been reduced from 15 inches to a trace by an unusually sudden switch from subzero cold to temperatures in the upper 40s. But the weather was about to get even worse.
On the 22nd, the temperature reached 53 degrees, and that evening, it began to rain hard.
Fargo-Moorhead got 1.83 inches of rain in three days. South (and upstream) from here, there were reports of more than 3 inches.
The runoff from the melted snow and heavy rainfall overwhelmed creeks and coulees, forcing the water up and over land. As the waters gathered, the Red River became an inland sea more than 10 miles wide.
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And all that water, squeezing through the dikes protecting Fargo and Moorhead, took just seven days to rise to the record crest of 40.84 feet on March 28.
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Fargo, ND 58108
