Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

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The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the Red River at Fargo-Moorhead.

The river will only reach minor flood stage and is not likely to cause any flood related issues. But National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Hopkins said a December flood is a rare event. 

“I tried looking back in the records and I don’t see at this point any record of this happening this late in the year,” Hopkins said, noting the nearly 2 inches of rainfall with the storm. “Normally we’d be hip deep in snow with much cooler temperatures.”

Hopkins said in a more typical winter this system would have produced less precipitation and much of it would have fallen as snow.

“But because of the El Niño and seeing warmer than normal temperatures this particular system and the way it tracked, lot warmer air and a lot more moisture is actually streaming north from around the Gulf of Mexico.”

Those conditions are making this month seem more like April.

“You know, in the past these, ice storms, freezing rain scenarios you would see that water being absorbed into the snow pack itself and get trapped there.”

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Dan Gunderson

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Nearly 2 inches of rain fell on frozen ground since Saturday, much like a spring event. But this late in the year it’s rare for the National Weather Service to issue a flood warning for Fargo-Moorhead.

Rain triggers rare flood warning for the Red River at Fargo-Moorhead

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