The snowpack

This is the snowdepth map as of February 19th. The darker colors indicate deeper snow. As you can see, the region with the deepest snowpack is west-central Minnestota, a landscape which forms the headwaters of both the Red River and the Minnesota River. Both river valleys are likely to flood this spring, as they do most springs. But the National Weather Service emphasizes that the possibility for a serious flood this year is "almost certain." How serious? That depends on what happens in the next few weeks.

The plan

This is not the time for panic; it's the time for planning. Those are the words recently spoken by a local mayor who served his community brilliantly last spring. As such, people listen to him. The plan right now is to fill a million sandbags before the snow even melts, and have them stored safely in a warehouse nearby. Now we wait, listening to flood forecasts and the planned response.

In the meantime, winter continues as usual. The snowpack builds and the winds blow. Foxes and pheasants scamper on the hard crust. They fear no flood. But they wait and watch the weather, too. We all do.