As the spring season gets underway, the Spring Flood Outlook is favorable to not see much in terms of river flooding.

National Weather Service Senior Hydrologist Jeff Zogg says central Iowa should expect to see near or below normal risk of flooding this spring. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio there are several risk factors they consider when estimating their Spring Flood Outlook, including river levels, soil moisture, snowpacks, frost depth and monthly and seasonal temperature and precipitation outlooks.

Zogg talks about an impact this year was the lack of major snowfall during the winter season.

“With missing the big (snow) events that means that there’s less snow, therefore water on the ground available to run to the rivers, that would tend to decrease the snow risks. So for the central Iowa area we look primarily at the headwaters for say like the Des Moines and the Raccoon Rivers.”     

Zogg says they tend to issue two types of flood warnings, including a river flood warning, where a flooding event could last for several days once a river goes above flood stage; and a flash flood warning, where an event lasts between 6-8 hours. He reminds everyone to be aware of their surroundings if you encounter flooding and don’t drive through water that is on the roadways.