Forecast: Almost half the USA at risk for spring flooding

By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Updated 1h 10m ago |

The Upper Midwest isn't the only region expected to see potentially catastrophic flooding over the next few weeks. Almost half the USA, including much of the Midwest, Northeast and all the way down the Mississippi River Valley to New Orleans, has an above-average risk for spring flooding, according to a forecast issued by the National Weather Service on Thursday.

Many metropolitan areas — where more than one million Americans live — have a greater than 95% chance of major flooding this spring, including Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D.; St. Paul, Minn.; Davenport, Iowa; Rock Island, Ill. and Sioux Falls, S.D.

The highest spring flood risk areas include the Red River of the North, which forms the state line between eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota, the Milk River in eastern Montana, the James and Big Sioux Rivers in South Dakota, the Minnesota River, the upper Mississippi River basin from Minneapolis south to St. Louis, and a portion of lower New York, eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey.

"For the third consecutive year, the stage is set for potential widespread, record flooding in the north-central United States," said Jack Hayes, director of the weather service, at a press breifing on Thursday.

MAP: U.S. spring flood risk
The weather service says minor flooding could begin as early as this weekend along the Mississippi River and its tributaries in Minnesota and Wisconsin, while moderate to major flooding is possible in eastern South Dakota by next week.

Meanwhile, while too much water will be the story in the North, drought will be a concern this spring in the Southwest, across the South and north into the mid-Atlantic. Drought has been spreading and deepening since the winter and is forecast to persist into spring in these regions. Wildfires will be an increasing threat as well, especially when humidity is low and when winds are high.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/floods/ ... cast_N.htm