Spring Flooding

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throwittoblythe

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Aug 7, 2006
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Minneapolis, MN
Because we haven't had a weather thread in a week or two....

With the relatively heavy rains along with a lot of snow pack melting quickly there is a very high risk for flooding in the next few days and weeks.

https://water.weather.gov/ahps/forecasts.php

Timely thread and thanks for the link. We are f'ed here in MSP. We've had 67" of snow this winter, most of which came after Jan 1. We've had very few melting days since it all started falling, as well. Based on my yard, we have 2 to 3 feet of snow pack. It rained on and off yesterday and is supposed to rain around 1" today. Rivers are going to rise very fast. MnDOT is telling contractors working on bridges near the river to clear the area and evacuate as of last week.

According to that link, most of our dam locations have a 90% probability of exceeding "moderate" flood levels with many likely to hit the "major flood" level. Add to that all the ice still on the river creating opportunities for big ice dams.

Driving down 35W was hazardous yesterday as many of the inlets are clogged with ice, creating huge pools on the interstate. It's fun when you hit those while going 70 mph.
 

cycloner29

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Dec 17, 2008
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Ames
My back yard is a lake currently, with it seeping into my storage shed. Kind of different to walk through the water with it being slushy on top , a two 2" layer of ice and more water. I've also noticed our sump has been running the last couple of days. Once or twice an hour. Thankfully all the snow is off our roof. I took a snow shovel and cleared the lower half off before we had the blizzard a few weeks ago. I even made sure the gutter were cleared and downspouts were open and made a path for the water to go.

My neighbor was throwing ice melt on his roof yesterday!
 

jdcyclone19

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Apr 14, 2017
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Iowa
My back yard is a lake currently, with it seeping into my storage shed. Kind of different to walk through the water with it being slushy on top , a two 2" layer of ice and more water. I've also noticed our sump has been running the last couple of days. Once or twice an hour. Thankfully all the snow is off our roof. I took a snow shovel and cleared the lower half off before we had the blizzard a few weeks ago. I even made sure the gutter were cleared and downspouts were open and made a path for the water to go.

My neighbor was throwing ice melt on his roof yesterday!

Ace hardware had a product called roof melt. I bought some due to the ice dams on my roof this year. It looked like white hockey pucks and threw them up on the roof. It actually worked very well.
 

throwittoblythe

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Aug 7, 2006
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Minneapolis, MN
My back yard is a lake currently, with it seeping into my storage shed. Kind of different to walk through the water with it being slushy on top , a two 2" layer of ice and more water. I've also noticed our sump has been running the last couple of days. Once or twice an hour. Thankfully all the snow is off our roof. I took a snow shovel and cleared the lower half off before we had the blizzard a few weeks ago. I even made sure the gutter were cleared and downspouts were open and made a path for the water to go.

My neighbor was throwing ice melt on his roof yesterday!

We have a part of our house that has a flat roof. Why the original owners decided to build their addition with a flat roof in MINNESOTA is beyond me. Anyway, I just replaced it this past summer. As I'm laying in bed last night, I start thinking about how we have probably 12" of snow on the roof. Then I started thinking about all this rain we're about to get. Then I thought about how the snow will soak up the rain and sit on our roof. Because I'm an engineer, I grab my phone and look up the density of wet snow, then look up the design codes for flat roofs in Minnesota.

Long story short, I was outside at 5:30 this morning raking off our flat roof.
 

BoxsterCy

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The Driveway Glacier is back and defying the trend of glaciers worldwide that are all receding. It's flowing into the even larger Alley Glacier. When it does finally recede I hope to find some cool artifacts, maybe an iceman mummy or a crashed DC-3 wreck.

53848807_10213923529429939_174520361075867648_n.jpg




#The_Iceman_Cometh
 

Al_4_State

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Sump pumps are going to get a good workout early this year

Mine hasn't even started running, because the frost is still pretty deep. At least in northern Iowa, the melting is surface level stuff that's not even penetrating the ground, and just running off into rivers and streams.
 

BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
Mine hasn't even started running, because the frost is still pretty deep. At least in northern Iowa, the melting is surface level stuff that's not even penetrating the ground, and just running off into rivers and streams.


Mine started yesterday but very slow. Starting to pick up more speed. Huge ponds in back yard behind where they piled snow from the street. City workers were lax this year and then cut corners when it came time to fix their mistakes. Some people will have a mess.
 

cycloner29

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Dec 17, 2008
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All the quick melting is going to cause some major ice jams in the rivers which is going to cause more problems. Nebraska has contractors on standby to start dropping dynamite into the rivers if ice jams start forming.

Saw on the Weather Channel this morning in Ottumwa where they had ice jams go into a campground that had campers and boats sitting there. Ice chunks looked about 1' thick. The county roads are already in bad shape with all the rain we've had.
 
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BoxsterCy

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We have a part of our house that has a flat roof. Why the original owners decided to build their addition with a flat roof in MINNESOTA is beyond me. Anyway, I just replaced it this past summer. As I'm laying in bed last night, I start thinking about how we have probably 12" of snow on the roof. Then I started thinking about all this rain we're about to get. Then I thought about how the snow will soak up the rain and sit on our roof. Because I'm an engineer, I grab my phone and look up the density of wet snow, then look up the design codes for flat roofs in Minnesota.

Long story short, I was outside at 5:30 this morning raking off our flat roof.

I have two triangular flat roof sections, only a couple hundred SF though. Not concerned because I was my own prime and had final say on everything and I'm not a code minimum kinda guy. It's hell for stout and all the structural was design by a structural engineer so it's not a builder special. Has wide scupper openings and open downspouts that don't freeze closed. It really was not that much more $$$ to "gold plate" the structure and materials but general builders will cut everything to the edge of legal acceptance cause money rules.

BTW, what did you use for your snow density?
 
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cyfan92

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Sep 20, 2011
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814temp.new.gif


2 week outlook forecasts above average temps are most likely for almost all of Iowa. Really feel bad for my cousin and uncle managing their cow herd... Calving season has already been challenging
 

intrepid27

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Oct 9, 2006
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Marion, IA
I live in CR and last week they were already predicting a 66% chance ( 4X normal) chance of major flooding.

Also, talked to guy in Memphis last week and he said a lot of the flood gates on lower Mississippi River are already shut or close to shut as NOLA can't take much more water. Could be an ugly spring.
 

JM4CY

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I have a Barracuda sump pump back up from menards I tried to install by myself with a buddy who actually new what the hell he was doing 2 months ago. I went down to check it and the voltage on the battery is well below functioning level. I noticed over time that the amps went down slowly but now the thing is next to worthless and I am headed out of town in 48 hours. My main sump works fine and there is no indication that the back up one was ever running. I have a back up valve in my tile line that will stop water from going into the pit if it is filling up and the sump isnt working but I wanted to have two sumps in there for obvious reasons. Any help is appreciated.
 

awd4cy

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Dec 29, 2010
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Central Iowa
The next 2 weeks are supposed to be dry after today. That will at least help some. Hard to say what will really happen this spring.
 

Cyclonepride

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I have a Barracuda sump pump back up from menards I tried to install by myself with a buddy who actually new what the hell he was doing 2 months ago. I went down to check it and the voltage on the battery is well below functioning level. I noticed over time that the amps went down slowly but now the thing is next to worthless and I am headed out of town in 48 hours. My main sump works fine and there is no indication that the back up one was ever running. I have a back up valve in my tile line that will stop water from going into the pit if it is filling up and the sump isnt working but I wanted to have two sumps in there for obvious reasons. Any help is appreciated.

Couldn't you just get a new battery, or am I reading your problem wrong?
 

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