Bismarck, North Dakota

The National Weather Service in Bismarck has issued a
* Flood Watch for
the Apple Creek near Menoken
* until further notice.
* At 9:30 am Tuesday the stage was 9.9 feet.
* Nonflood flooding is possible.
* Flood stage is 15.0 feet.
* Forecast... flood stage may be reached by .
* Impact... at 15.0 feet... water floods low lying area in the immediate
vicinity of creek.
* Flood history... this crest compares to a previous crest of 15.0 feet
on Mar 22 2001.

211 PM CDT Tue Mar 16 2010 /111 PM MDT Tue Mar 16 2010/

... Flood Watch remains in effect through Friday evening...

The Flood Watch continues for

* portions of south central North Dakota... southeast North
Dakota and southwest North Dakota... including the following
counties... in south central North Dakota... Burleigh... Emmons...
Grant... Kidder... McLean... Mercer... Morton... Oliver...
Sheridan... Sioux and Wells. In southeast North Dakota...
Foster... La Moure... Logan... McIntosh and Stutsman. In
southwest North Dakota... Adams... Billings... Bowman... Dunn...
Golden Valley... Hettinger... slope and Stark.

* Through Friday evening

* warmer weather will increase snow melt run off this week. This
will increase the likelihood of overland flooding. Run off
into streams and rivers will increase... and significant rises
in the rivers are expected this week.

* Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or your local media for the later
updates on this situation.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on
current forecasts.

You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible
flood warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be
prepared to take action should flooding develop.

An areal Flood Warning remains in effect for Dickey County through
at least Thursday morning. The dicky County emergency manager
reported overland flooding across Dickey County due to blocked
culverts and continued runoff from melting snow. As of Tuesday... the
Road along the border of north and South Dakota east of Forbes to
Highway 281 was closed due to many washouts.

A Flood Watch remains in effect through Friday for the potential for
overland and river flooding across southwest and south central North
Dakota.

Significantly warmer weather is expected in the southwest and
south central Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesdays high
temperatures are forecast to range from the upper 40s from Rugby
to Jamestown... to near 60 degrees in the southwest. Slightly
cooler weather is forecast for Thursday with highs in the 40s.
Overnight lows... especially Wednesday night... may not drop much
below freezing in some areas. The effect will be to increase the
snow melt across the southwest and south central... and heighten
overland and river flooding concerns.

The risk of overland flooding is generally along the Missouri
River valley south of Washburn... and areas east of the Missouri
River... to and including the James River Valley. Also of concern
is the southwest... where high temperatures as high as 60 degrees
Wednesday will impact snow melt considerably.

The primary concern will be overland flooding attributed to
plugged culverts and surface drainages... which back up enough
water to top local roadways. Water will also be reaching streams
and rivers this week and significant river rises are expected.
This includes Apple Creek near Menoken... Beaver Creek near
Linton... the Cannonball near Breien... the little Missouri near
Marmarth... the James and knife rivers and Pipestem creek areas.

The level of Apple Creek at Menoken rose about 3 feet from Monday
afternoon to Tuesday afternoon. Although Apple Creek is not yet
approaching flood stage... this rapid rise reflects the increased
snow melt in the Apple Creek basin in the past couple of days.

Now is the time to finalize preparations for potential flooding.