Cannon River Flood Situation

Well, it is official, the flood season is upon us. Every year the Cannon River rises and falls with varying impact on the lives of Northfield citizens.

But this year, thanks to warmer weather and more rain in the forecast, a potentially problematic situation is brewing. 

But, rest assured, Northfield city officials are on the case.

"We did a tour this morning of the Public Safety Center and Downtown areas. Rice County has also been keeping us informed on the river levels and the Police Department is monitoring the river," Northfield City Administrator Tim Madigan told Patch. 

According to Northfield civil engineer Katy Gehler, the situation is under control and Northfield residents will be kept informed.

"We have officially transitioned the snow emergency hotline into the flood hotline and will update the message on Mondays and Fridays. Should conditions significantly change, we will update the hotline more often," Gehler said.

Gehler's professional assessment is as follows: 

The warmer temperatures last week started the snow melt in earnest and the Cannon River levels in Northfield responded by rising significantly later in the week. 

River levels hit a plateau by Friday and oscillated slightly up and down in  response to the day/night temperature variations. On Sunday the minor rain event (0.1"-0.25") accelerated the snow melt and we saw another 0.75 feet of rise on Sunday.  Note that the snow melt had a more significant impact than the rain on the rivers response on Sunday. 

As of Monday morning the river appears to be in another plateau and we may even see levels recede slightly before the next precipitation event starts. 

A storm has been predicted on Tuesday into Wednesday morning that is expected to leave 0.5" of precipitation.  Although a 0.5" rain event typically is not significant, because the river levels are elevated and the ground saturated this event is expected to have an impact on the river levels. 

It is difficult to predict the extent of the impact until we see how the river responds to the last event (how far will the level fall before Tuesday). We will continue to monitor the river via our electronic gauge that is now installed at the Safety Center. 

We currently have about 2.5 - 3.0' of elevation between the river elevation and the edge of the parking lot.  We have sandbags on standby should we need to protect this facility.

For updates, please call the Northfield flood hotline at 507-645-3080.