Weather

River crest at La Crosse may stop just below 15 feet

Published

5 years ago

March 31, 2019

Brad Williams

Water is over the riverbank in portions of La Crosse's Riverside Park

The Mississippi River crest at La Crosse could happen now on Wednesday, a day earlier than previously predicted.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service think the river will rise to 14.7 feet, for the highest level in La Crosse in eight years.

Meteorologist Dave Lawrence said the city has been lucky on a couple of fronts, experiencing a slow melting period for snow and little rain or snow in recent days.

La Crosse had 18 inches of snow cover during the first week of March, but most of the snow was gone by St. Patrick’s Day.

Water is over the bank at Riverside, and at Copeland Park, which is along the Black River.

Lawrence says the Dresbach Dam will be closed if the water rises to 15.4 feet.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.