More severe weather headed toward area

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Recent and reoccurring heavy rains have caused area water bodies to continue swelling, leaving one 2 feet from flood stage and more storms are slated for today and throughout the weekend.

Len Peterson, observing program leader at the National Weather Service in Bismarck, said the Heart River is about two feet below flood stage at the dam.

“There’s a statement out for some possible flooding over the weekend because the grounds have become so saturated and we’re still looking at thunderstorms this weekend that could produce localized heavy rain,” Peterson said.

However, the flood outlook wouldn’t be based on rivers themselves coming out of their banks, it would be more on rural streams and ditches running over roadways, he said.

That is exactly what continues to happen in Stark County.

Heightened rainfalls throughout the week caused the Heart and Green rivers to flow over roadways, closing 10th Avenue Southeast in east Dickinson as well as 107th Avenue Southwest on Wednesday.

Al Heiser, Stark County road superintendent, said the roads remained closed Thursday.

“We didn’t put anymore on and we did not open them up yet because the water is still coming over pretty heavy behind the stockyards and the water is still coming over pretty heavy over on 107 and 32nd,” Heiser said.

If high rainfall continues, the roads could be closed until next week, Heiser said.

Stark County Emergency Manager Brent Pringle said he checked the Green River early Thursday and it was flowing higher than Wednesday.

“It’s still flowing pretty good,” Pringle said. “Both the Green and the Heart seem to be flowing a lot faster and are higher up on the banks today than they were yesterday.”

Dunn County is seeing increased river flows as well.

Denise Brew, Dunn County emergency manager, said the Knife River was bank-to-bank Wednesday morning.

“Monday night we got all that rain, close to three inches, and it came way up,” Brew said. “And then last night we got an inch and a half (Wednesday) so it’s still running very full.”

Brew said she hasn’t received any calls from anyone about flooding.

Severe thunderstorms are possible today and Saturday, according to a Hazardous Weather Outlook from the NWS. A chance of thunderstorms also exists for Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today will be packed with higher temperatures, possibly reaching about 88 degrees, according to the NWS website. There is a 20 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms with a 40 percent chance during the evening. Some of the storms could be severe.

Saturday, however, temperatures are slated to have a high near 59 degrees with a 50 percent chance of rain and 60 percent into the evening.

Tags: news, local, weather, flooding, rain