Would a crest of 41ft put the red river over the b.n.s.f. bridge? I'm heading out on the Empire builder tomorrow from Chicago to Seattle and return. I hope it doesn't disrupt Amtrak.
Now the National Weather Service has changed the flood crest prediction:
3/27 40.8
3/28 41.9
3/29 42.0
3/30 42.0
3/31 42.0
4/1 41.9
4/2 41.7
The discussion is pretty somber: "conditions on the Red River at Fargo have grown increasingly
dangerous over the past 24 hours. The river is currently approaching
record levels and showing no sign of slowing at this point. As the
river exceeds the previous record level... the relative uncertainty
in forecast models has increased significantly. Record flows upstream
of Fargo have produced unprecedented conditions on the Red River. Given
these factors... the river is expected to behave in ways never previously
observed. The crest forecast at Fargo is now expected to be between 41
and 42 feet by Saturday... but could potentially be as high as 43 feet...
and continue for 3 to 7 days."
As for the picture I linked to earlier today, the road bridge on the right is closed and, according to someone interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio, "water is running over it." The now-expected high is 5.5 feet higher than that shown in the picture.
The only open automobile bridge across the Red River is I-94, which isn't surprising as I believe the highest point in Fargo is an interstate overpass.
There are other railroad bridges in Fargo, but I have no information on them. My impression is, though that the central core of Fargo, where the train station is and where the Empire Builder usually crosses, is slightly higher than the rest of the city, which has to be a good thing.
I would have thought that the recent cold weather (it's supposed to get down to single digits tonight) would have slowed the river's rise, but it's obviously a terribly complex system.