Why is it flooding now in St. Paul?

Spring is the time for floods. Rain plus melting snow pushes rivers over their banks. So why is the Mississippi flooding in St. Paul in the Fall?

It all has to do with a large weather event a week ago. I put together this animation of the radar images from the storm. It is important to appreciate the time scale of this animation. Storms usually pass by quickly. This loop is comprised of 31 images, each one hour apart. This storm sat on southern Minnesota for over 31 hours dumping rain. All told, some places received nearly a foot of rain. That amount is hard to comprehend.



This map is a Precipitation analysis from the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Center. It shows total rainfall for the event.

The purple area is over six inches, red is five inches, orange is four inches. Consider what that means. The entire southern part of the state was covered by at least four inches of water. It all has to go somewhere and that somewhere is the Minnesota River. I tried to calculate a rough idea of how many gallons that is and I ran out of zeros. It was on the order of millions of millions.

Looking at a map of the river basins of Minnesota you can see why St. Paul is about to flood. The rains dumped mostly in the Minnesota River Basin but elsewhere as well. The Minnesota river is currently carrying a heavy load of water. As it moves downstream it meets up with the Mississippi and the two continue on to St. Paul.

The crest at St. Paul is expected to be at or slightly above the flood levels we saw this past spring. It will be somewhere around 18 feet. I know my fossil hunting program I had scheduled to teach today at Lilydale Regional Park was canceled by the city as they are closing the park. Harriet Island is closed and they are putting up flood walls at the St. Paul airport. Warner road along the river is also closed.

A lot of people have been coming here looking for a link to the webcam at the Science Museum that showed the rising river last spring. I talked to folks downtown and unfortunately the camera is out of commission. A new one has been ordered, unfortunately it will arrive after the crest of the river.

~Kirk

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Newly Fledged American Goldfinch (Video)

It was windy today in Minnesota. If you don't believe me, ask the woman at my work who's back window exploded when a thirty foot tall black cherry fell on her car. Like I said, windy.

When I came home I could hear this chirping noise out my window. It sounded familiar but strangely constant. This bird was close to the window, not moving and chirping like mad. I looked out the window with my son and quickly spotted a little ball of feathers in the yard. It could only be one species. I grabbed my binoculars and sure enough, it was a baby American Goldfinch.


American Goldfinch are the last birds to nest in the state of Minnesota each summer. Heck, it isn't even summer anymore and there are still goldfinches in nests. This has to do with their nesting habits. American Goldfinches build their nests out of thistle seed plumes. The thistle doesn't bloom until the end of the summer so they have to wait it out.

For the past few weeks, song birds have been pouring out of Minnesota. The warblers are all but gone and there have been reports of the first Juncos in the Twin Cities. I practically expect snow any moment once the Juncos arrive.

My suspicion is that this bird was force fledged a bit early by the strong winds today. This brings up a question I get all the time in my line of work. What should I do with a baby bird I found? Leave it alone! Birds have done fine for millions of years without well meaning humans trying to assist them. The parents will hear the bird calling and bring it food. This is how it works. Sure, there's a chance another animal might eat the little bird. Sitting in the middle of the yard like this is also announcing a free meal to any passing hawk. Look though, migrating hawks are hungry too. This is the circle of life.

I'll have my thistle feeder out all winter. Maybe this little guy (or gal) will hang out in my yard this winter and enjoy my stale seeds.

It did stick around long enough for me to dig out the video camera. Enjoy.



~Kirk

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St. Croix River Pictographs

At the end of the summer season I had the good fortune to head out on the St. Croix River with some of my co-workers. We were relaxing after a long summer of teaching while also scoping out a new route for next summer. While on the river, our director showed us the location of some pictographs on the basalt cliffs. I had heard they were there but had never seen them before. The exact site is known as the Iverson Site. I'm not going to pinpoint it on a map but those with knowledge of geology and the river can probably figure out where they are located. There seems to be a tradition of not saying exactly where they are. I think this is to protect them. I get that but I'm thinking the opposite may also be true. The more people that know where they are the better they may be protected. I have paddled past this location many times without noticing them. Now, if I see someone acting strange at the site I'll certainly be watching for vandalism since I know what is there. You have to know a resource is there if you are to protect it. Like I said though, casual tourist style paddlers won't recognize this site. The kind of people who love the river will be able to figure it out simply from the photo at the top of the post.

The pictographs are located on a basalt outcropping along the St. Croix River. The rock itself is from the mid-continental rift and is about 1.1 billion years old. The pictographs are naturally much newer. One source I found from the state archeologist's office states that they are considered to be from around 1000 to 1500 AD. This photo below shows all of the pictographs and you can see how easy they are to miss. Go ahead and try to find them in the photo before reading on.


In the photo below I have messed with the contrast and levels a bit to bring out the red more. The color is traditionally made by mixing iron rich rock with bear grease or sturgeon cartilage. I've read one source that claimed the rock used was hematite but true hematite is not red so not sure how the logic works on that.


This is the main part of the pictographs. The art itself consists of a bison head, two handprints, circles, a cross and a strange dome shape. The strange shape is in the lower left of the photo. The cross or X is on the far left. Some sources suggest that an X or cross in pictographs represents either the sun or a star. The circles are not pictured above, they are down and to the right. It is possible there was more to the drawing at one point but the rock may have split and fallen into the river. One source I read speculated that the bison head with the two hands beneath symbolizes a shaman. Click to enlarge the photo and it is much easier to see the pictographs. Here's a line drawing of the pictographs in case you are having trouble making them out on the rocks. The cross/plus symbol is faint and on the far left. I've read that an X can symbolize a star or the sun which is interesting though I still have no idea what these pictographs may mean or how that would relate to the other images present.

The photo below shows two rows of dots. These are to the right of the other drawings. I can make out two parallel rows of four. They are very faint.


If you try to find this site on the river please don't touch the pictographs. They are part of the history of the river and should be protected.

~Kirk

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The Chickweed Geometer

In my never ending quest for knowledge I just had to know what this little moth was that showed up this week on my screen door. Reaching for a field guide I found it is a Chickweed Geometer, Haematopis grataria. It can be identified by the orange or yellow wings with pink stripes and discal spots. You should click on the photo for the large version to check out the funky antennae.


According to A Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America by Charles V. Covell Jr. it feeds on chickweed, clovers, knotweed, smartweeds and other low plants. For those of you that actually click that link, yes, copies of this small field guide sell for about $50! Supply and demand I guess.

~Kirk

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