GRAND FORKS — The Red River in the Greater Grand Forks area is slightly declining as the river level sat at 45.15 feet as of Thursday morning, a slight decrease from the 45.6 feet the river was at Wednesday morning.
The Red River crested Wednesday at 45.79 feet, just below major flood stage, which is 46 feet.
Rain expected Friday into the weekend could impact the river level in the Greater Grand Forks area, but the total amount of rain expected in the area is still unknown at this time.
Greg Gust, with the National Weather Service, said the rainfall is expected to start Friday into Saturday as central North Dakota is currently expected to receive the most rainfall, though he said the amounts of precipitation can vary.
Gust said at this point in time the amount of expected rainfall isn’t included in the river model, which tracks the river levels throughout the region.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It’s still too uncertain, it’s still too far out in the distance,” Gust said.
The Red River in Oslo is currently sitting steady at 37.37 feet as of Thursday morning with overland flooding occurring in that region.
In Crookston, the Red Lake River level is continuing to decline after cresting at 27.07 feet late Sunday into early Monday. The river currently sits at 19.93 feet, just slightly below the moderate flood stage, which is 20 feet.
Gust said if heavy rain occurs in the basin upstream of Crookston, the Red Lake River could rise again, but chances of that happening are low.
“With the river going down the likelihood of it getting back up near major flood stage are pretty low,” Gust said. “It could get there, but it would take a lot of rain.”
