Fall Flood Forecast

The flood prognosticators are predicting a rare fall flood on the Mississippi River this weekend. This is because of the big rain storm last week that brought as much as 12 inches of rain to parts of Minnesota, and obliterated some small Minnesota communities like Zumbro Falls. The Mississippi is supposed to crest at or above the 2010 spring flood at Harriet Island. Since I spent some time tracking that, I thought I'd go have a look at the "current" conditions. From the Smith Avenue Bridge - sometimes called the High Bridge, for obvious reasons - it's pretty hard to tell that the river is rising. But the leaves are turning and it's a nice view.

Down by the river, it's a little more obvious. Looking across the river towards the Cathedral, you can see chunks in the water and a noticeable rising of the water level.

A closeup of the railing down the bank does a good job of showing the encroaching river.

The Princess spent a few days this summer planting bushes and grasses on Raspberry Island - just downstream from Harriet - to replace those that were washed away in the spring flood. It appears as though her efforts may need to be repeated in the spring.

It was a very nice day today, except for a fairly brisk wind. We - the geezers - played a couple of sets at Marie Park in the wind - the last time before Curt goes south for the winter, to Arkansas. The sets were close and a few of the points were pretty good, but playing wind tennis is pretty frustrating, especially after a couple of sessions in windless indoor arenas. I was glad to have played, but I'll also be happy to get back into the sanctuary of Fort Snelling's tennis bubble.