Winter Forecast 2019-20

We received this from the NOAA – NWS Chicago Office:

Rock River Basin and Fox River Basin hydrology contacts,

For your situational awareness… we want to bring to your attention an increased risk for flooding next spring due to very wet conditions this fall. Typically, fall is too early to determine the risk for flooding the following spring, but conditions across large portions of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions have been wet enough to likely increase the risk of elevated river levels and potential flooding into at least early next spring. Even assuming no future precipitation, it would take until mid to late December for the Rock and Fox Rivers to fall to more normal levels.

This does not mean that spring flooding is certain because multiple factors contribute, including:

• High fall river levels
• High fall soil moisture
• Winter precipitation, temperature, and snow cover
• Spring precipitation, temperature, and snow melt

Risk factors for spring flooding will be monitored closely throughout the winter. For more information, see attachment.

At this time, we do not anticipate any updates on the spring flood risk until our regularly scheduled spring flood outlooks, which will be released:

• February 13
• February 27
• March 12