Anyone been out looking at the Pool 2 ramps? Hidden Falls, Lillydale, 494, Mississippi pub? Fingers are crossed to get one open. Maybe a little shoveling and some salt may help one along.
Where’s Dean when you need him?
Mike I heard that the gate at hidden falls was closed? After this weekend if the gates open I’ll be down every night after work till I get it open 
Anyone got that number to the St Paul Parks?
I would think 494 may be a good bet for opening up. That sun beats down on that ramp pretty good. There was a lot of ice in front of it a few weeks ago. Hoping that the increase in flow and wind over the weekend may of done some work on that.
Quote:
Mike I heard that the gate at hidden falls was closed? After this weekend if the gates open I’ll be down every night after work till I get it open
Gate was locked as of yesterday.
The upper end of pool 2 is still for the most part shore to shore ice. The ice looks quite a bit darker today then yesterday.
Quote:
Quote:
Mike I heard that the gate at hidden falls was closed? After this weekend if the gates open I’ll be down every night after work till I get it open
Gate was locked as of yesterday.
What in the heck were you doing outside sterns county? 
With this weather,you guys should be back in business in short order! 
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Mike I heard that the gate at hidden falls was closed? After this weekend if the gates open I’ll be down every night after work till I get it open
Gate was locked as of yesterday.
What in the heck were you doing outside sterns county?
Fishing
Nice to finally meet you yesterday Dean
Quote:
Mike I heard that the gate at hidden falls was closed? After this weekend if the gates open I’ll be down every night after work till I get it open
Let me know if you get down there. I’ll swing by to lend a helping hand yo! 
494 access has about 150 yards of ice out in front of it yet. The channel is open but there’s ice as far as you can see on both sides of the river. Somebody took a big rock of the side of the dike and chucked it out there, it hasn’t fallen through yet. I saw a piece of ice the size of a football field come down river very very slowly. I think it’s gong to take more than a couple of 40 degree days to open it up.
Rootski
Hidden falls is still closed. The ice in front of the ramp is melting quick, but i dont have alot of faith taht the city will open it before next weekend but you never know. It is still very icy down stream of the ramp but up to the dam is open.494 wont be launchable for a few more weeks.and i wouldn’t count on lilydale any sooner. The ramp in prescott is open and launchable. Seems to be open quite a ways down from the ramp. Under the bridges are fishable but not many biters. Call the city of st paul and tell them to open the park. The more calls they get the more they’re gonna want to move. 651-266-6400
Just talked to the parks maintenance and they said the snow was very built up and it would take 2 weeks to remove. sounds like crap to me. call this number instead. 651-643-3473.
Quote:
Nice to finally meet you yesterday Dean
Same here, BTW, did Steve give ya one of his famous boat rides ? 
Quote:
Just talked to the parks maintenance and they said the snow was very built up and it would take 2 weeks to remove. sounds like crap to me. call this number instead. 651-643-3473.
Where’s Brian M? He needs to call Karen and work his charm on her again! 
JP
I took a ride around the area with a buddy today. Basically, from the dam (not the lock side)to the first big bend past Hidden Falls is open water. From doggie beach past the marina and the confluence to 35E bridge and beyond are mainly ice covered, I stopped at Lilydale launch. Got a good look at the spillway from the VA, there is actually a healthy amount of water coming over, thats helping out. There was plenty of shore to shore ice, but some of that shore ice was starting to seperate from the bank and most of it was a greenish black. A little more flow and things will change in a hurry. I still think we are looking at the end of the month, maybe a few days earlier. Accessing Hidden Falls seems to be the issue.
My charm is wearing out, I called her again and she knew my name…. you try, 651-632-2413 Karen. 
I think this early warm up, but somewhat short one is perfect! Lets stay just warm enough after this to keep the river open without melting everything at once. That should help the bite last a little longer then last year.
3 more days of 40 degrees with some wind mixed in will hopefully take its toll on the river ice.
Here are the spring river predictions for pool 2 so far. Looks pretty good to me. Would imagine a lot better than what it looked like maybe just a few weeks ago.
Pool 2 Spring level predictions.
@ more day or really warm weather working on that ice. The water was running in the streets up here in Blaine today. Got to imagine water levels on the river are going to start to rise soon.
Anyone do any ramp checking today? Think I may make the rounds tomorrow since Ill be down that way.
Quote:
Anyone do any ramp checking today?
Just got back from walking the dog down at the 494 ramp.
The parking lot, access road turn around and both sides of the ramp are plowed out clean.
The ice shelf at the bottom of the ramp is about a foot thick and runs out a good 75 yards. But the ice is black and moving. Water bubbling up through the cracks and covering the tops. So it should go fast. I’ll bet one ramp will be usable by the weekend.
I’ll be down the next few days after work. Dog likes it down there!
-J.
Quote:
Here are the spring river predictions for pool 2 so far. Looks pretty good to me. Would imagine a lot better than what it looked like maybe just a few weeks ago.
Pool 2 Spring level predictions.
@ more day or really warm weather working on that ice. The water was running in the streets up here in Blaine today. Got to imagine water levels on the river are going to start to rise soon.
Anyone do any ramp checking today? Think I may make the rounds tomorrow since Ill be down that way.
The way I read that chart is we have a 50% to 90% chance of major flooding. (Possible record floods) That and the river will be over her banks well into early May…..
-J.
My take on it Jon is there is a 90% chance of not even hitting flood stage. If the grey bars where into the flood stage areas it would be a bit more concerning. Maybe Im not reading it right. Im also a little surprised the predictions are as low as that.
Didnt look to see what it show for down river near Everts.
The grey bars show greater than 90% chance of hitting that level. The blue bars show 50-90% of hitting those levels. So for example, the week of 4/12 there is a 50% to 90% chance of major flood levels at Downtown St Paul.
-J.
Good to see you the other day Dean. Hopefully I will see you again and just not my once a year visit to you! But it sure felt good to be on the water the other day!
I am game on cleaning a ramp out this weekend if anyone is interested and mother nature allows it! I need a P2 fix bad…..
Looks like from the hwy 5 bridge down to the confluence is still for the most part shore to shore ice. The MN river looks to be opening up or is open. There are a few open pockets of water from the confluence down to the lilydale landing.
Quote:
I am game on cleaning a ramp out this weekend if anyone is interested and mother nature allows it! I need a P2 fix bad…..
You and about 100 other guys I can think of. Maybe we all could chip in and buy a Russian Ice breaker
Rootski
Quote:
Good to see you the other day Dean. Hopefully I will see you again and just not my once a year visit to you! But it sure felt good to be on the water the other day!
I am game on cleaning a ramp out this weekend if anyone is interested and mother nature allows it! I need a P2 fix bad…..
Same here Steve! All you guys gotta do is get Steve & his riverpro on the water and he will make that ramp open in no time!
A RiverPro is basically a Russian ice breaker…without the Russians. 
Jon is correct in his interpretation. But it can be broken down in a little more detail.
Another way to look at it is the bottom of the grey is 100%, the top of the grey is 90%, the bottom of the blue is 90% while the top is 50% etc. So for the week of 4/12 we have about a 75% chance to exceed flood level and about a 55% chance to exceed major flood level.
Yep – Bored at work 
Someone running wakes in front of the ramp would hurry things along real nice. Just don’t feel like sliding my jon boat 60+ yards across the ice to put in….
-J.
Here is a story from Friday’s St Paul Pioneer Press. Put the percentages in perspective:
============================================================
Minnesota’s spring flood forecast growing more dire
Deep snow follows fall rain — with lots of winter to come
By Andy Rathbun
[email protected]
Updated: 02/11/2011 01:18:30 PM CST
Think all this snow is a hassle? Wait until it melts.
Emergency management officials are preparing for significant flooding across Minnesota this spring — a result of fall rains and heavy winter snowfall — and advising at-risk homeowners to buy flood insurance.
“Every river in the state of Minnesota is at risk this year, and that’s not something we normally see,” Dan Luna of the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen said Thursday.
Luna said water levels along the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers are expected to rise as high as last year or higher. He added there is a possibility of flooding as severe as the spring of 2001.
That spring, the Mississippi crested twice above 23 feet in St. Paul — the highest levels since the 1960s.
And while a number of conditions could occur between now and then, weather experts said they believe spring flooding will be as bad as they’re predicting — or worse
“We still have a good two months of winter left,” Luna said. “The expected flooding that we’re looking at is based on a normal snowfall and a normal spring melt.”
But it hasn’t been a normal winter snowfall this year. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport sees an average of about 56 inches of snow in a season — an amount nearly reached as of Thursday. And if the snow melts more quickly than normal — as it has during the past couple of years — flooding danger will rise.
In St. Paul, city officials have begun running through flood scenarios, said Rick Larkin, director of emergency management.
Larkin said his agency is working with other city departments to develop flood plans.
St. Paul will install flood-control measures along the downtown waterfront as it has in the past. The difference this year may be the scale of the response — more sandbags and higher barriers, he said.
“It sure sounds like this scale is going to be pretty significant,” said Larkin, adding he believed the city will be prepared for however high the water rises.
According to a weather service prediction Thursday, there is an 83 percent chance the Mississippi will reach 17.5 feet in St. Paul, flooding Harriet Island. There is a 60 percent chance it will rise above 20 feet. Flood stage in St. Paul is 14 feet.
The river crested at 18.38 feet in St. Paul last spring, according to the weather service. That’s about a foot lower than what was predicted but still the eighth highest level on record.
In Stillwater, there’s a 50 percent chance the St. Croix River will rise enough for the Lift Bridge to be closed for safety reasons, and the city’s river walk is expected to be flooded, the weather service predicted.
The city is preparing. Crews this week were lining up sand, sandbags, pumps and concrete barriers, said Shawn Sanders, director of public works.
In addition, city officials were putting the final touches on a Facebook page that could be used to solicit volunteers to fill sandbags.
“I’ve told (staff) to go ahead and start buying sand and sandbags,” City Administrator Larry Hansen said. “What I’m worried about is that the flooding could be so widespread that there could be a shortage.”
The National Weather Service on Thursday also boosted the probability of high water on the flood-prone Red River that divides Minnesota and North Dakota.
The service forecast a 50 percent chance the river will hit 50 feet at Grand Forks, N.D. That would be the third-highest crest on record for the city. The Red reached a record 54.35 feet during the devastating flood of 1997.
Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Kris Eide said now is the time for people to begin thinking about flooding. Families should develop an emergency response plan and homeowners should purchase flood insurance, she said.
“It only takes a few inches in the basement of a home to do thousands of dollars in damage,” Eide said.
Flood insurance doesn’t take effect until 30 days after purchase, so people need to think about it well in advance, Eide said.
Residents across Minnesota should keep an eye on river levels and watch for flood warnings in the coming months, officials said.
And the flooding won’t just affect those close to rivers and streams.
“The river flooding isn’t going to be the only concern to us this spring — we expect to have significant overland flooding,” said Luna, adding that if the snowpack melts quickly, it simply won’t have anywhere to go.
Mary Divine contributed to this report. Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
