'Come on Mother Nature, give us a little break,' weather forecasters say

Forecasters monitoring fallout from spring storm Flood forecasters in Manitoba and North Dakota are keeping a close eye on how this week’s storm will affect spring flooding.

While the snowstorm south of the border could have been worse, forecasters say the severity of flooding all depends on what happens in the next few days.

Jim Kaiser, a warning coordination meteorologist at the Weather Service in Grand Forks, said this week's Colorado Low brought between 15 and 38 centimetres of snow in North Dakota – lower than expected, but it will still have an impact.

"This winter never gave us any sort of reprieve, never gave us any melting and so we're still sitting on the ground with all of the season's snow water just waiting to melt and get into the system," he said.

He said Grand Forks entered April tied with the highest snow depth it has seen, and Fargo broke the record for the amount of snow on April 1.

As for what the impact of this recent snow storm will be, Kaiser said that will depend on the temperature in the coming days. He said if there is a gradual freezing and thawing over the next 10 days, most of the water will be absorbed into the ground.

"If we flip that switch (in) the middle of next week – which looks like that's more likely than the gentle melt cycle – we'll see more runoff," he said.

But forecasters have another concern – rain, which Kaiser said would be the worst-case scenario.

"Because once that snow does come off, we got a week to two weeks of really soupy soils that aren't going to hold any water."

Kaiser said that is what happened last year, resulting in flooding here in Manitoba.

In the most recent flood outlook in late March, the province had warned of major risk of flooding on the Red River thanks to recent snowstorms in North Dakota.

When asked Thursday if this storm has impacted the risk of flooding, a provincial spokesperson said forecasters are still reviewing the data and models.

Kaiser said for now, forecasters on both sides of the border will have to wait and see.

"Come on Mother Nature, give us a little break," he said. "But we can handle it. I'm pretty sure most communities are up to the task."