Weather service predicts major flooding for North Dakota’s Red River, residents try to prepare

Forecasters predict major flooding in North Dakota

FARGO, N.D. — The National Weather Service says there’s a high risk for major flooding along North Dakota’s Red River in the same area where residents held off record high waters last year.

The flood outlook released Friday shows a 90 percent chance for major flooding in Fargo because snow there is heavily packed and the soil is saturated.

Across the country residents in the nation’s midsection are preparing for rising waters this spring where rivers such as the Red, the Mississippi and the Missouri flow through populated areas.

Weather service spokesman Greg Gust says the forecast calls for less than normal precipitation for eastern North Dakota in the next two weeks, calling that “a glimmer of a sunshine in an otherwise gloomy flood outlook.”