Flood in North Dakota, April 6 to 30, 2001

The headwaters of the Red River received the most snow over the course of the winter. Snow water equivalents of 4 to 5 inches were measured from the snowpack over this area. As the snowmelt progressed through early April, several heavy rain events occurred. The first, on the 7th of April, brought widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches to the southern Red River basin. This rain fell on top of the remaining snowpack, which resulted in faster rises on the Red and Wild Rice Rivers. Both the Bois de Sioux and Ottertail Rivers crested at the same time in Wahpeton, something that hadn't happened in recent memory. This brought the first crest on the Red River at Wahpeton, 16.96 feet on the 9th. A second heavy rain event occurred on the 11th and 12th of April, with many locations south of Wahpeton-Breckenridge reporting 1 to 1.50 inches of rain. This led to a second crest at Wahpeton on the 13th of 16.21 feet. As the Red continued to fall after this second crest, a winter storm event occurred on the 22nd and 23rd. This storm brought over a foot of snow to some locations in Richland county. As this snow rapidly melted over the next couple of days, it brought a third crest on the Red River at Wahpeton on the 26th at 13.88 feet. The 16.96 foot crest was the 5th highest crest on record. 3 of the top 5 Wahpeton crests have occurred since 1996. As the snowmelt progressed across southern Richland county, overland flooding caused major problems between the Wild Rice and Red Rivers. The town of Great Bend had numerous farmsteads surrounded by water. Many roads were washed out from the overland flooding and many roads and bridges were closed. The Wild Rice River at Abercrombie also crested 3 times, with the first crest also being the highest at 25.22 feet. This was the third highest crest on record.