Those who believe March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb may have to reconsider after last week’s brutal weather in the upper Midwest, which included 10 tornadoes in Iowa and Nebraska, severe blizzard conditions in western Nebraska and South Dakota, and worsening flood conditions in parts of the Dakotas and Manitoba. Forecasters said another storm was expected Friday into Saturday and could bring 6 inches of snow or more to parts of Nebraska and western Iowa.
Five lower-level tornadoes were confirmed in western Iowa on Monday night, with localized damage reported to houses and farm structures but no injuries. Residents in the central two-thirds of the state were dealing with minor flooding from main stem rivers after recent heavy rains. The National Weather Service’s North Platte, Neb., office reported Monday afternoon that two tornadoes had touched down in north-central Nebraska as part of the same storm system. By Wednesday, that estimate was raised to at least five tornadoes across the state on Monday, in addition to the five that hit western Iowa. The tornadoes were among 17 funnels reported from Oklahoma to South Dakota early in the week.
The western part of Nebraska spent much of Tuesday enduring blizzard conditions from falling snow and high winds. Wind gusts of 62 mph were reported in Valentine, Neb., with one gust clocked at 90 mph in Perkins County, S.D. Several state and national highways in the Nebraska Panhandle were temporarily closed during the storm, including a section of Interstate 80 into Wyoming. The heaviest snowfall occurred in western South Dakota’s Black Hills area, with up to 30 inches of new accumulation.
In North Dakota, sandbagging efforts were underway to combat widespread flooding caused by ice jams on the Missouri River. Thousands of residents in Bismarck and in rural areas south of the city were evacuated due to rising water, prompting authorities to use explosives on Wednesday to blast a channel through extensive ice dams near Fox Island. Local reports said this is the first time Bismarck has had a spring flood since 1952, when the Garrison Dam was being built 60 miles upstream.
And in Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., residents were desperately stacking sandbags along the swollen Red River last week, which was expected to crest at a record 43 feet by Saturday, above the previous record of 40.1 feet set in 1897 and more than three feet higher than the levels reached during the devastating 1997 flood. The National Weather Service late on Thursday said the crest could run for three to seven days, further stressing sandbag barriers. President Obama issued a disaster declaration for 34 North Dakota counties on Tuesday.
Seeding of spring wheat in North Dakota may face “major delays” as a result of flooding and additional snowfall, Minneapolis-based DTN Meteorlogix LLC said in a midweek report. Fargo-based U.S. Agriculture Department official Dale Ihry recently predicted that at least 1 million acres might not be planted this spring in North Dakota.
In Manitoba, forecasters have said that when the crest of the Red River hits the border with the U.S. in the coming weeks, a lot of farmland and roads south of Winnipeg will be flooded. The recent storms are “really setting off alarm bells,” Environment Canada announced last week.
The rising Red River was already forcing some grain shipments away from rail lines because of flooded tracks. Local reports said washouts on BNSF’s north-south line in North Dakota were causing delays ranging from one to four days for shipments of agricultural products from Canada. Canadian Pacific Railway said it does not expect problems with its east-west line, which runs west of the likely flood zone. CP does have concerns, however, for its track south of Winnipeg, which runs directly through the Red River Valley.