Flood is canceled
A flood forecast released by the National Weather Service at 8:36 a.m. Tuesday predicts that the Knife River at the Hazen river gauge will crest at 20.4 feet, a half foot short of flood stage. At 1 p.m. that forecast was updated to 20.6 feet. This forecast is much lower than the forecast from the beginning of March which indicated an even money chance the river could reach 26.5 feet at Hazen. Flooding in Beulah begins when the river reaches 25 feet. The river looked like it was going to rise quickly over the weekend. A cold snap stopped the snowmelt and runoff. The river had risen from 7 feet to 12 feet last week. After the freeze, it dropped down to 10 feet by Monday morning. Temperatures in the 60s got the water moving again, jumping 4 feet from noon Monday to noon Tuesday.
