John Wheeler: The Red River's northward flow is not why it floods

FARGO — It is widely accepted that the northward flowing Red River is prone to spring flooding because the river flows north. The logic is that the snow and ice melts in the south first and flows northward to where all is still frozen and flooding ensues. However, this logic is faulty.

If this were the case, there would be ice jams backing up the flow at the interface between melted river and still frozen river.Although ice jams are often a serious problem on Red River tributaries, they have never been a big deal on the Red itself. The reason the Red River floods so frequently is that it is a slow, meandering river in a shallow channel in the bottom of an almost flat plain.



Because of the too-gradual northward slope, it takes too long for water to get downstream. A sudden increase in water in the channel from heavy rain or melted snow or both is likely to cause a flood.]]>.