While the focus of the flooding has been in the mid-Mississippi Valley, I believe the Northeast -- specifically upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine -- is sitting on a time bomb of flooding just waiting to go off.
The longer we delay the snow melt in that area, the greater the chance of a major flood problem across the Northeast. Why? The second map below shows the amount of liquid equivalent in the snow cover across the Northeast. On average, there's almost a foot of water sitting in the snow cover, ready to go once the warm weather occurs.
Keep in mind, that area of the country had a horrible winter (EDITOR: OBVIOUSLY NOT A SNOWMOBILER'S OPINION) and was hit by many snowstorms, some dumping over a foot of snow. The second point is the increased likelihood that a warm and humid air mass will be thrown over the snow cover, causing a rapid meltdown of the snow.
What I mean, a month ago, the air masses across the South were warm and somewhat humid. Now, the air mass across the South is getting warmer and warmer each day, and the dew points are coming up or can come quite quickly, more so than a month ago. So any delay in the warm air coming into the Northeast means a greater chance that some storm will tap the warm and humid air mass and surge it north over the snow cover.
The humidity plays a big part on the melting of snow. A dry air mass will cause evaporation cooling over the snow cover, thus keeping temps low over the snow allowing for a slower melting rate. Now, increase the humidity and the temps increase over the snow cover, thus a greater melting rate. Add a storm with warm winds and heavy rain, and you can actually cause dramatic snow melts coinciding with a heavy rain event. While this is just speculation at this time, it should become a warning to folks living in flood-prone areas that you need to take precautions now just in case the flood waters come.
Click Here for a Map of the Current Snow Depths
Click Here for a Map Showing Water Equivalent of the Current Snowpack
