The St. Croix has started to climb out of its winter slumber, and the water on the lower river is coming up as part of the process.

Much of the region received an inch or more of rain earlier this week, while warm temperatures also melted a lot of the snow on the landscape. This has resulted in the river rising three or so feet.

At Stillwater, the St. Croix is currently forecast to crest at 680.1 feet above sea level. That is just above what is considered the “action stage.” The lower walkway along the river is under a few inches of water. It would have to rise another seven feet to be considered in flood.

No significant rain is in the weather forecast, although this weekend is supposed to see high temperatures in the 50s, which will lead to more melting snow.

The National Weather Service says it’s looking like a quiet spring on Midwest rivers:

“Reports from across the region confirm what we had speculated earlier in this outlook process. Dry soils and limited frost depth seemed to limit the runoff. Usually when we have melting snow, there are large puddles and standing water in low spots and ditches. But there is very little of that noted this year. So it seems a great deal of the water has soaked in. River rises are occurring, but overall is much less than in a typical spring melt season… Our risk for flooding from this point forward is therefore tied to future precipitation events.”

– North Central River Forecast Center, National Weather Service

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