Red River flood crests in Fargo, expected to reach Manitoba next week

The swollen Red River has peaked in Fargo as the flood crest creeps closer to Manitoba.

The North Dakota city was the first major milepost along a flood path that leads directly to Winnipeg, where city crews have sandbags ready and waiting. The next battleground is Grand Forks.

U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Knutsvig said there's water "as far as I can see in some directions as you travel along I-29" between Fargo and Grand Forks.

The river crested at 35 feet just after the noon hour Monday in Fargo, where 18 feet is considered a minor flood and anything that hits 30 feet is considered a major flood.

The record level, set in 2009, is 40.8 feet.

The crest should reach Grand Forks around April 12, according to the National Weather Service, which is forecasting a crest of 48 feet there.

The 2009 crest was 49.3 feet and the record 1997 flood reached 54.3 feet.

[They] still need to make preparations for this flood because it is definitely on the high side.- Ryan Knutsvig

In some places between Fargo and Grand Forks, there are roads under water and there is sandbagging going on, while in other places time is running out to get ready.

"[They] still need to make preparations for this flood because it is definitely on the high side," said Knutsvig.

But it could have been much worse if not for the spring weather, which he said has been close to ideal.

Back in March, the weather service issued a long-term outlook that offered best- and worst-case scenarios, depending on how quickly all of the snow melted and if there was significant precipitation.

"Fortunately, we've been able to a lot of our near-term forecast towards the lower end of the [scenarios] that we put out there … because of that favourable slow melt we've had an minimal precipitation," Knutsvig said.

"We haven't had those storm that could come through and bring another shot of snow or rain. We've been able to dodge those."

A big weather system is expected to bring snow to parts of South Dakota and Minnesota this week but Fargo and Grand Forks look to be just north of it.

Depending on how much snow falls and eventually melts, "it could possibly bring a secondary bump in the flood wave but [river level] will be on its way down by the time that gets into the system," Knutsvig said.

Flood in Manitoba

Provincial flood forecasters in Manitoba expect the crest to cross the border into Emerson around April 15-18.

And Winnipeg is likely to see the peak flow around the first few days of May.

The province continues to predict flood levels south of the city, in the Red River Valley, to be equal to 2009 levels.

Slightly lower levels are expected inside the city of Winnipeg with the use of the floodway — a 47-kilometre-long floodway channel diverts part of the Red River's flow around the east side of Winnipeg, from an inlet near St. Norbert to an outlet near Lockport.

The floodway is likely to go into operation this week, according to government officials.

Inside Winnipeg, the river levels at the James Avenue pumping station could reach 20.5 feet.

The peak was 22.6 feet in 2009, the second highest flood on the Red since the floodway was completed in 1968.

The Red River was at 13.05 feet James at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Levels are available online at City of Winnipeg – River Levels and updated in real time every 10 minutes.