502  
FGUS73 KABR 271409  
ESFABR  
MNC011-155-SDC013-017-021-025-029-031-037-039-041-045-049-051-057-  
059-065-069-075-085-089-091-107-109-115-117-119-129-132300-  
 
PROBABILISTIC HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD  
809 AM CST THU FEB 27 2025  
   
..SPRING FLOOD AND WATER RESOURCE OUTLOOK  
 
THIS SPRING FLOOD OUTLOOK IS FOR THE RIVERS AND STREAMS IN NORTHEAST  
SOUTH DAKOTA, PORTIONS OF CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA, AND PORTIONS OF WEST  
CENTRAL MINNESOTA.  
 
WITH NO SNOW COVER REMAINING ACROSS THE AREA, ALONG WITH ONGOING  
DROUGHT CONDITIONS, THE CHANCES FOR MINOR, MODERATE, OR MAJOR  
FLOODING ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION ARE GENERALLY BELOW NORMAL. THE  
FLOOD THREAT THROUGH THIS SPRING, BOTH IN LOCATION AND SEVERITY,  
WILL LARGELY BE DETERMINED BY FUTURE RAIN OR SNOWFALL.  
 
THE 6 TO 10 DAY OUTLOOK THROUGH MARCH 8TH IS FOR INCREASED CHANCES  
FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE  
OUTLOOK FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH IS FOR EQUAL CHANCES FOR BELOW, NEAR  
OR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION. THE 90 DAY OUTLOOK  
FOR MARCH THROUGH MAY IS FOR EQUAL CHANCES FOR BELOW, NEAR OR ABOVE  
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION.  
   
..CURRENT SNOW CONDITIONS  
 
THERE IS CURRENTLY NO SNOW COVER ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA.  
   
..CURRENT SOIL CONDITIONS  
 
SOIL MOISTURE IS BELOW NORMAL ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. FROST DEPTHS  
ARE GENERALLY IN THE 2 TO 4 FOOT RANGE. THE ENTIRE REGION IS IN  
MODERATE TO SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS.  
   
..CURRENT RIVER CONDITIONS  
 
ALL OF THE RIVERS IN THE AREA ARE MOSTLY ICED OVER, EVEN WITH THE  
WARMER TEMPERATURES EXPERIENCED OVER THE LAST WEEK. RIVER LEVELS AND  
FLOWS ARE GENERALLY RUNNING NEAR TO BELOW NORMAL. THE THREAT FOR  
BREAK-UP ICE JAMS APPEARS LOW AT THIS TIME. ANY POTENTIAL ICE JAM  
FLOODING WILL BE DETERMINED BY HOW FAST THE ICE MELTS AND HOW MUCH  
ADDITIONAL FLOW CAN GET INTO THE RIVERS TO RAISE AND BREAK UP THE  
EXISTING ICE COVER BEFORE IT MELTS.  
   
..PROBABALISTIC OUTLOOKS  
 
IN TABLE 1 BELOW, THE CURRENT (CS) AND HISTORICAL (HS) OR NORMAL  
PROBABILITIES OF EXCEEDING MINOR...MODERATE...AND MAJOR FLOOD STAGE  
ARE LISTED FOR THE VALID TIME PERIOD.  
 
CS VALUES INDICATE THE PROBABILITY OF REACHING A FLOOD CATEGORY  
BASED ON CURRENT CONDITIONS.  
 
HS VALUES INDICATE THE PROBABILITY OF REACHING A FLOOD CATEGORY  
BASED ON HISTORICAL OR NORMAL CONDITIONS.  
 
WHEN THE VALUE OF CS IS GREATER THAN HS...THE PROBABILITY OF  
EXCEEDING THAT LEVEL IS HIGHER THAN NORMAL. WHEN THE VALUE OF CS IS  
LESS THAN HS...THE PROBABILITY OF EXCEEDING THAT LEVEL IS LOWER  
THAN NORMAL.  
   
..TABLE 1--PROBABILITIES FOR MINOR...MODERATE AND MAJOR FLOODING  
 
VALID PERIOD:  
VALID PERIOD: 03/03/2025 - 06/01/2025  
: CURRENT AND HISTORICAL  
: CHANCES OF EXCEEDING  
: FLOOD CATEGORIES  
: AS A PERCENTAGE (%)  
CATEGORICAL :  
FLOOD STAGES (FT) : MINOR MODERATE MAJOR  
LOCATION MINOR MOD MAJOR : CS HS CS HS CS HS  
-------- ----- ----- ----- : --- --- --- --- --- ---  
:ELM RIVER  
WESTPORT 14.0 16.0 19.0 : <5 28 <5 22 <5 9  
:JAMES RIVER  
COLUMBIA 13.0 16.0 18.0 : 15 58 11 45 5 29  
STRATFORD 14.0 17.0 18.5 : 15 58 6 44 5 31  
ASHTON 13.0 14.0 16.0 : 8 53 6 45 6 43  
REDFIELD 20.0 22.0 25.0 : 8 42 7 41 6 39  
:SNAKE CREEK  
ASHTON 11.5 13.0 16.0 : 12 50 11 50 6 40  
:TURTLE CREEK  
:BIG SIOUX RIVER  
WATERTOWN 10NW 10.0 11.0 12.0 : <5 19 <5 <5 <5 <5  
WATERTOWN CONIFER 9.0 10.0 12.0 : <5 56 <5 34 <5 <5  
WATERTOWN BROADWY 10.5 11.0 13.5 : <5 34 <5 33 <5 <5  
CASTLEWOOD 9.0 11.0 16.0 : 8 35 <5 28 <5 <5  
:GRAND RIVER  
LITTLE EAGLE 15.0 17.0 21.0 : <5 27 <5 18 <5 7  
:MOREAU RIVER  
WHITE HORSE 21.0 23.0 25.0 : <5 22 <5 17 <5 11  
:BAD RIVER  
FORT PIERRE 21.0 25.0 27.0 : 6 12 <5 5 <5 <5  
:LITTLE MINNESOTA  
PEEVER 17.0 22.0 24.0 : 7 26 <5 <5 <5 <5  
:MINNESOTA RIVER  
BIG STONE LAKE 970.0 971.5 973.5 : <5 6 <5 <5 <5 <5  
 
LEGEND  
CS = CONDITIONAL SIMULATION (CURRENT OUTLOOK)  
HS = HISTORICAL SIMULATION  
FT = FEET  
 
IN TABLE 2 BELOW...THE 95 THROUGH 5 PERCENT COLUMNS INDICATE THE  
PROBABILITY OF EXCEEDING THE LISTED STAGE LEVELS (FT) FOR THE VALID  
TIME PERIOD.  
   
..TABLE 2--EXCEEDANCE PROBABILITIES  
 
CHANCE OF EXCEEDING STAGES  
AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS  
VALID PERIOD:  
LOCATION 95% 90% 75% 50% 25% 10% 5%  
-------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------  
:ELM RIVER  
WESTPORT 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.7 6.6 9.2 10.5  
:JAMES RIVER  
COLUMBIA 5.2 5.2 5.2 6.1 11.5 16.5 18.3  
STRATFORD 6.2 6.2 6.2 8.0 11.6 16.1 18.2  
ASHTON 3.8 3.8 3.8 4.7 8.0 12.3 21.3  
REDFIELD 3.6 3.6 3.6 5.0 9.4 16.2 27.4  
:SNAKE CREEK  
ASHTON 1.7 1.7 1.7 2.1 6.1 14.0 18.2  
:TURTLE CREEK  
:BIG SIOUX RIVER  
WATERTOWN 10NW 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.8 6.1 7.9 8.8  
WATERTOWN CONIFER 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.4 6.4 7.6 8.7  
WATERTOWN BROADWY 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.3 5.9 7.5 9.4  
CASTLEWOOD 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.3 6.2 8.3 9.7  
:GRAND RIVER  
LITTLE EAGLE 2.8 3.2 4.3 6.6 9.3 9.7 11.1  
:MOREAU RIVER  
WHITE HORSE 2.8 3.8 5.0 6.2 8.0 10.0 11.8  
:BAD RIVER  
FORT PIERRE 1.7 2.2 3.9 5.7 9.4 18.1 22.8  
:LITTLE MINNESOTA  
PEEVER 10.4 10.7 11.5 12.8 14.1 16.5 17.5  
:MINNESOTA RIVER  
BIG STONE LAKE 966.2 966.2 966.5 966.5 966.5 966.8 967.4  
 
IN TABLE 3 BELOW...THE 95 THROUGH 5 PERCENT COLUMNS INDICATE THE  
PROBABILITY OF FALLING BELOW THE LISTED STAGE LEVELS (FT) FOR  
THE VALID TIME PERIOD.  
   
..TABLE 3--NONEXCEEDANCE PROBABILITIES  
 
CHANCE OF FALLING BELOW STAGES  
AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS  
VALID PERIOD:  
LOCATION 95% 90% 75% 50% 25% 10% 5%  
-------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------  
:ELM RIVER  
WESTPORT 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0  
:JAMES RIVER  
COLUMBIA 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.0 5.0 5.0  
STRATFORD 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.1 6.1  
ASHTON 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.5  
REDFIELD 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.3 3.3  
:SNAKE CREEK  
ASHTON 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7  
:TURTLE CREEK  
:BIG SIOUX RIVER  
WATERTOWN 10NW 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1  
WATERTOWN CONIFER 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0  
WATERTOWN BROADWY 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5  
CASTLEWOOD 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9  
:GRAND RIVER  
LITTLE EAGLE 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.4  
:MOREAU RIVER  
WHITE HORSE 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 1.9  
:BAD RIVER  
FORT PIERRE 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5  
:LITTLE MINNESOTA  
PEEVER 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0  
:MINNESOTA RIVER  
 
THESE LONG-RANGE PROBABILISTIC OUTLOOKS CONTAIN FORECAST VALUES THAT  
ARE CALCULATED USING MULTIPLE SEASON SCENARIOS FROM 30 OR MORE YEARS  
OF CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA...INCLUDING CURRENT CONDITIONS OF THE  
RIVER...SOIL MOISTURE...SNOW COVER AND 30 TO 90 DAY LONG-RANGE  
OUTLOOKS OF TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION. BY PROVIDING A RANGE  
OF PROBABILITIES...THE LEVEL OF RISK ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-RANGE  
PLANNING DECISIONS CAN BE DETERMINED. THESE PROBABILISTIC  
FORECASTS ARE PART OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE'S ADVANCED  
HYDROLOGIC PREDICTION SERVICE.  
 
VISIT OUR WEB SITE WEATHER.GOV/ABR FOR MORE WEATHER AND WATER  
INFORMATION.  
 
THE NEXT OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED MARCH 13TH, 2025.  
 
 
 
PARKIN  
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