MONROE - Warmer temperatures may feel nice after a long winter, but they might present another kind of problem for the area.
Green County, like a number of other Wisconsin counties that experienced record snowfalls, is prepared for spring flooding. Emeregency Management Director Keith Ingwell said Green County has sand bags and is prepared.
But so far, he said, the weather is cooperating.
"Temperatures get in the 30s during the day and in the 20s at night and that helps the snow to melt without a big thaw," he said.
Flood watchers throughout southern Wisconsin welcomed Tuesday's gradual thaw - and a forecast with no rain in sight - even as they began gearing up for possible spring flooding.
"It is a given there is going to be minor flooding," Wisconsin Emergency Management spokeswoman Lori Getter said, indicating that all counties have been cautioned to have sand bags ready. "If we were to have very warm temperatures with heavy precipitation, heavy rain, it could cause some major flooding."
Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley said the county purchased thousands of sand bags last year to prepare for flooding at any time of the year. Pedley said all the rivers and streams in the county are susceptible to flooding, but the Pecatonica River near South Wayne and Gratiot seems to flood most often.
"It's quick to rise but slow to diminish," Pedley said.
Green County experienced flooding last summer along the Sugar River in Monticello and near Brodhead, but those were due to heavy August rains.
No flooding was reported Tuesday. The National Weather Service labeled the risk as minor or moderate.
The thaw should be ideal for a few days - high temperatures in the 40s and nighttime lows in the 20s with no storms until maybe next week, said Todd Shea, a meteorologist for the weather service in La Crosse.
"We don't know if it will be rain or snow yet. It's a little to early to tell if it will be heavy," he said.
On Tuesday, seven to 20 inches of snow covered the ground in most of southern Wisconsin, which is way above average, and some of the snow is packed with up to 6 inches of water, Shea said.
A flooding crisis would develop quickly if temperatures climbed to 60 degrees and then it rained an inch or two, he said. "Fortunately, we don't see anything like that at least through this week."
Still, many rivers will swell to at least flood stage at some point, given the snow pack, the forecaster predicted.
According to Getter, flood watchers are most concerned about the Fox, Rock, Baraboo, Wisconsin and Kickapoo rivers in southern Wisconsin.
"We are at the wait and see stage. It is kind of up to Mother Nature right now," Getter said in a telephone interview from Madison. "We have a lot of snow to melt. We want just a gradual melt."
As of Tuesday, no counties had requested extra sandbags, she said. The flood season can stretch from now into May.
In Crawford County, where torrential rains last summer caused a flooding disaster, a meeting was planned Wednesday to begin getting items like sand bags in Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove, two cities along the Kickapoo River.
"We are getting our ducks in a row just in case," said Roger Martin, the county's emergency management director. "If it thaws and freezes at night, we should be OK. The biggest threat would be if had some heavy rains. Two or three inches would make things very interesting, very fast."
Last fall, President Bush declared five southwest counties disaster areas after torrential rains of up to 12 inches drenched the area Aug. 19. Nine additional counties were added later as unseasonable rains continued.
Larry McCarn, the village president in Gays Mills, said Tuesday there's still homes in town that haven't been repaired from last summer's flood but he wasn't too worried this spring - "unless we get rain."
It's pretty much a given that the river will reach flood stage with so much snow to melt, but rising to that level means only a park will get flooded, he said.
"Flood stage doesn't mean squat," McCarn said. "I don't get excited until we really need to. It won't do any good anyway."
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Green County, like a number of other Wisconsin counties that experienced record snowfalls, is prepared for spring flooding. Emeregency Management Director Keith Ingwell said Green County has sand bags and is prepared.
But so far, he said, the weather is cooperating.
"Temperatures get in the 30s during the day and in the 20s at night and that helps the snow to melt without a big thaw," he said.
Flood watchers throughout southern Wisconsin welcomed Tuesday's gradual thaw - and a forecast with no rain in sight - even as they began gearing up for possible spring flooding.
"It is a given there is going to be minor flooding," Wisconsin Emergency Management spokeswoman Lori Getter said, indicating that all counties have been cautioned to have sand bags ready. "If we were to have very warm temperatures with heavy precipitation, heavy rain, it could cause some major flooding."
Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley said the county purchased thousands of sand bags last year to prepare for flooding at any time of the year. Pedley said all the rivers and streams in the county are susceptible to flooding, but the Pecatonica River near South Wayne and Gratiot seems to flood most often.
"It's quick to rise but slow to diminish," Pedley said.
Green County experienced flooding last summer along the Sugar River in Monticello and near Brodhead, but those were due to heavy August rains.
No flooding was reported Tuesday. The National Weather Service labeled the risk as minor or moderate.
The thaw should be ideal for a few days - high temperatures in the 40s and nighttime lows in the 20s with no storms until maybe next week, said Todd Shea, a meteorologist for the weather service in La Crosse.
"We don't know if it will be rain or snow yet. It's a little to early to tell if it will be heavy," he said.
On Tuesday, seven to 20 inches of snow covered the ground in most of southern Wisconsin, which is way above average, and some of the snow is packed with up to 6 inches of water, Shea said.
A flooding crisis would develop quickly if temperatures climbed to 60 degrees and then it rained an inch or two, he said. "Fortunately, we don't see anything like that at least through this week."
Still, many rivers will swell to at least flood stage at some point, given the snow pack, the forecaster predicted.
According to Getter, flood watchers are most concerned about the Fox, Rock, Baraboo, Wisconsin and Kickapoo rivers in southern Wisconsin.
"We are at the wait and see stage. It is kind of up to Mother Nature right now," Getter said in a telephone interview from Madison. "We have a lot of snow to melt. We want just a gradual melt."
As of Tuesday, no counties had requested extra sandbags, she said. The flood season can stretch from now into May.
In Crawford County, where torrential rains last summer caused a flooding disaster, a meeting was planned Wednesday to begin getting items like sand bags in Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove, two cities along the Kickapoo River.
"We are getting our ducks in a row just in case," said Roger Martin, the county's emergency management director. "If it thaws and freezes at night, we should be OK. The biggest threat would be if had some heavy rains. Two or three inches would make things very interesting, very fast."
Last fall, President Bush declared five southwest counties disaster areas after torrential rains of up to 12 inches drenched the area Aug. 19. Nine additional counties were added later as unseasonable rains continued.
Larry McCarn, the village president in Gays Mills, said Tuesday there's still homes in town that haven't been repaired from last summer's flood but he wasn't too worried this spring - "unless we get rain."
It's pretty much a given that the river will reach flood stage with so much snow to melt, but rising to that level means only a park will get flooded, he said.
"Flood stage doesn't mean squat," McCarn said. "I don't get excited until we really need to. It won't do any good anyway."
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.