LILYDALE, Minn. — Many Minnesotans will spend the next day hoping to not see snow later this week, but given the current forecast, those impacted by high river levels might want to root for snow over rain.
For two weeks now, the Pool and Yacht Club in Lillydale has had a pond where its parking lot should be.
"We look at the forecast and we think we're close," said General Manager Dara Filosa. "We start making plans to get back in and then mother nature has other plans."
Filosa said they were hoping to open this coming weekend, after watching the river crest outside the club a week ago. Now they are revising those plans and hoping the forecasts are wrong.
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"We would like it to be sunny as would everybody else in Minnesota," Filosa said.
Experts say there's no avoiding the wet weather that is on its way, so they suggest hoping for something different.
"As much as people don't want to see a snowstorm right now, in terms of how this is going to effect the rivers, snow is better than rain," said National Weather Service Hydrologist, Craig Schmidt.
Schmidt says snow will cause river levels to rise more slowly, over a five to seven day span, while rain will have an immediate impact at a critical time.
"It would run off fast and get into the river system quickly and it would cause a faster, higher crest," Schmidt said.
For now, he says the current forecast won't push levels above the previous highs this spring, but he says it will have a considerable impact.
"This will slow that decline and then cause another rise of about a foot or so at St Paul and Hastings and on down to Redwing," Schmidt said.
"A couple feet more sure sounds like a lot, but it's not going to get as high as it was, so that's always good," Filosa said. "It really is the price we pay for the view, it's worth it to us and it makes where we are matter."
Schmidt says the storms true impact on river levels won't be known until the snow and rain totals solidify, but he says any roads that are currently closed are likely to remain that way for another week or two.