Mississippi River Flood Alert for Minnesota and Wisconsin

WISCONSIN — A number of counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin are reporting flood conditions, as rainfall remains in the forecast.

What You Need To Know
Wisconsin’s northwestern neighbors are now seeing major flooding. Concern is now creeping into parts of Wisconsin along the Mississippi River where water levels are high and continuing to rise

As of Tuesday afternoon, the NWS forecast showed the river was still climbing in La Crosse and would likely crest at some point Wednesday at around 15-feet, which is roughly six inches below major flood stage

Just south of La Crosse, in Vernon County, emergency management said its biggest concern is what more rain will do to the Mississippi
Over the weekend, parts of Minnesota were on high alert as flood levels continued to rise in many areas after days of unrelenting rain.

Wisconsin’s northwestern neighbors are now seeing major flooding. Concern is now creeping into parts of Wisconsin along the Mississippi River where water levels are high and continuing to rise.

In Hudson, Wis., many businesses and homes along the waterways are already seeing flooding nearby.

Data from the National Weather Service (NWS) showed the Mississippi has crested upriver in Minnesota, with river levels falling in St. Paul and Red Wing.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the NWS forecast showed the river was still climbing in La Crosse and would likely crest at some point Wednesday at around 15-feet, which is roughly six inches below major flood stage.

Just south of La Crosse, in Vernon County, emergency management said its biggest concern is what more rain will do to the Mississippi.

“Seeing what the next week is going to do,” Brandon Larson, with Vernon County emergency management, said. “We are in contact with the weather service and their hydrologist to keep an eye on their predictions and what it’s doing up north. That’s kind of where we are at right now and staying in touch with the fire departments that are along the Mississippi.”

Larson said with the holiday weekend approaching, people need to be careful when getting out on the water.

“It is a lot more dangerous,” he said. “The flow of water is a lot faster. The current can take you in a quick hurry and what you are used to with the normal river levels is not the case right now.”

Right now, it’s a waiting game to see just how much more rain will fall along the Mississippi as we head into the holiday weekend.

For Sale: 54 acre Driftless Region Farmstead, Rural Stoddard

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Hi Friends and neighbors, very shortly we will be putting our property 1.25 miles east of Stoddard up for sale. This is a heads up, in case you have a friend or relative looking for a beautiful south-facing property in Wisconsin’s Driftless region just 12 miles south along the Mississippi from downtown La Crosse.

 The house overlooks a beautiful and varied 54-acre domain of woods, meadow, pristine spring-fed marsh, robust artesian well and hillsides. Fish the property’s 1 mile of frontage along Coon Creek…one of Wisconsin’s most lauded trout streams. The bottoms provide beautiful and silent cross country skiing. 

South facing decks on two levels of the bungalow style home and an insulated 3 season room provide beautiful vistas of bluff and valley to south, east and west year around.  

The historic 1912 barn stands straight and tall, has a dry hay loft, 2 horse stalls. Great as a walk-in barn for horses or storage for toys and tools. Artesian well just below the house and barn. Historic buggy shed offers a dry home for horse tack, or any other collection that is dear to your heart. Excellent pasture or hay in the meadows, or firewood from the woodlot. Wild grapes and a 35 yr old apple tree as well as perennials make even the yard productive.

Neighbors practice quality deer management so plan your hunt for the big buck! Or watch the hunt from the sun porch or decks! The wetland meadows provide a natural refuge with  nesting sandhill cranes, playful otters, muskrats, resident eagle, and fawns are raised annually on the homestead hillsides. Watch Turkeys strut as well as pheasants, trumpeter swans and Virginia Rail which populate your piece of the Mississippi River valley. Listen as Tundra swans fly low to land between Stoddard and Goose Island.

Visit this link on Lisa’s Facebook page for many more pix! 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/XD8GeXUJuKKpkZio/?mibextid=QwDbR1

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/RM2ecck427coJqwe/?mibextid=xfxF2i

For many more pix, please click this link: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/W987-Cedar-Valley-Rd-Stoddard-WI-54658/113688381_zpid

3 bedrooms, 2 bath home of approx 2500 sq ft. 2 car garage. High topped boat/RV storage off the barn.  Hardwood floors throughout the main floor. Finished walk-out basement with family space, laundry, a huge office space. New heat pump, furnace and kitchen appliances. All systems work as they should. Fireplace in living room. Wood stove in basement. Both with stainless steel chimneys. Large open kitchen. New roof on house and barn. 

Upstairs is finished with bedroom suite, 1/2 bath, walk in closet. Large attic space is unfinished. 

Owner may accept, counter offer, or refuse any offer. Sold as is. Look for more pictures on Zillow (address W987 Cedar Valley Road, Stoddard, WI  54658) or the public Farm for sale album on Lisa Middleton’s facebook page noted above. 

 Call Rich 309-200-7473 or text Pat at  608-385-2510 for more info (including a map) or to visit the property.  Suggested pricing $675,000-$720,000.

Nearly the entire sideyard is shaded by the great oak. 

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Tundra Swans, Pelicans, Eagles and Dabblers and Divers Make Their Move!

The Tundra Swans have returned immediately on the tail of one of the most glorious fall displays ever along the Upper Mississippi! And we are expecting a beautiful two weeks of Indian Summer to welcome them back to Pool 8!

So right now is prime time for Swan viewing between La Crosse and Stoddard, Wis. or south of La Crescent to south of Brownsville, MN. Both Wisconsin and Minnesota offer scenic waysides south of La Crosse.

Tens of thousands of swans will stop to rest and feed in shallow open water in the next two weeks. Use your binocs and notice that the American White Pelicans are also here among the swans. If you see a few groups of large 2-4 swans, they are most likely TRUMPETER SWANS. The grayer swans are this year’s cygnets. Many of the swans seen now are family groups, so there will be many young among the flocks.

Leaves have pretty much fallen, so Eagles will seem abundant. Watch for huge black nests and eagle “snags”, dead trees for fishing that eagles will use year after year! It’s a great time to be on the river!!

Much more information from previous posts can be found by using the SEARCH button and such key words as: Tundra Swans or Trumpeter Swans or Pelicans or ducks. Also visit our interactive map measuring the density of bird migration along the Mississippi River Flyway!!

May 2023 Updates

What a difference a month makes! Temps are settling in the 40s one week, 70s next, and then back to 40s! Snow accumulates, then melts, then falls again. Our great Mississippi rises, then falls, then floods! Just now, the crest is slipping from La Crosse into Iowa, but hover close to moderate flood levels everywhere.

Many parks are still closed, but birds are still moving along the Mississippi River flyway. They are, however, moving in fits and starts along with inclimate weather and high water. Their one necessity is the availability of food along the route. With another round of nice weather approaching Wisconsin and Minnesota, birds should be back on the move!

Our Sandhill nest is full of activity as the eggs hatched on April 29 – about a week early. Eagles are busy with their own fledglings, so check out nests for the white heads of adults busy with bringing food to the nests. Egrets and Great Blue Herons have arrived and are visible in ponds and sloughs not directly on the flooded Mississippi River. White pelicans also are checking out the smaller wetland ponds along the flooded river. We see them frequently.

Riverboats, including the Twilight, the newly restored Julia Belle Swaine, and the La Crosse Queen are all eager to start their seasons “come hell or high water!”

I will be posting several links just to remind you of what you can find on our Mississippi River at this time of year, and also on greatriver.com While I no longer post daily, our archives are filled with seasonal information!! Use the Search Button above or search through our CATEGORIES! And Happy Spring!

Charting Our Course

A note from map artist, Lisa Middleton
Friends,we are all charting the course day by day in this confusing time. It seems if we miss the news a single day, everything changes the next, and the world is upside down. Kudos to all of you who are staying home to save lives! My sincerest regards to those who are personally affected by COVID-19. Thank you to those in essential industries who keep the world turning at times like this.

Maps represent our human experiences, memories, and a thousand little stories of the ancestors who beat impossible odds to create the historical maps we hold in our hands today. Our current circumstances are no less difficult, and we can chart the course together, day by day.

What makes our Museum Quality Prints Special

Our maps are unique in the industry! You may have loved ones who had to cancel their vacation, or know of a young couple who had to cancel their wedding or honeymoon. Maybe there is a grandparent in your life who has to be alone in quarantine thousands of miles away from you. There is no better way to tell them you care than to send them a map of a memory, a family legacy or even their dream!

“In her hands, a torn black-and-white 1883 plat of Montana Territory blossoms into a vividly colored snapshot of what the land once was. It remains a map by definition, but by execution it is now an ornate showpiece fit for the living room wall, touched by an artist’s hand with its essential purpose still intact.”
Myers Reese, Montana Quarterly Fall, 2014

We invite you to browse our galleries of more than 400 antique, Mississippi River, East Coast, West Coast, and original custom designed map art at Great River Arts…. greatriverarts.com !! Enter a key word in the orange SEARCH BOX at the top of the map page to explore the cartographer, the year, region or title that is meaningful to you. We hope you enjoy this gift of art and history!!

White Phase Turkeys

white phase turkeyHere’s a nice discovery for November! Wild Turkeys quite commonly appear in their white phase. Again the white version is not a mutation, or “half domestic”, it is simply a white phase of our familiar turkey.  Use the SEARCH button to see more of our “white phase” collection!  We saw these too at HIDDEN HILLS off Hwy K, near Goose Island. Our toddlers enjoyed seeing the pigs, goats, turkeys, calves, and all!

 

New Kindle Versions of our Most Popular Steamboat Book…and a Little Something Extra!

If your favorite River Buff has become a Kindle fan, we now have the following NEW Kindle Editions available for Pre-order for Christmas gifting this year!

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“Treasure Hunting” has been one of our most requested river topics through the years. Pirates, military trails, payroll caches, old maps and steamboat wrecks have all left tales of sudden death and unrecovered treasures. In the first of our Kindle “INSIGHT Series” we  have collected a number of our previously published favorite treasure hunting stories, how-tos, and resources available to the Treasure Prospector here on the upper Mississippi River.

One Man’s Treasure” is now available for pre-order in the Kindle Store. PRE-ORDER RIGHT HERE, now, just $2.99!

bright Come Hell Cover VOL 1 Kindle
Our ever-popular steamboat anthology, COME HELL OR HIGH WATER by Michael Gillespie is newly available as a quality 2-Volume KINDLE edition. Filled with historic photos, witty commentary, footnotes, bibliography, Glossary and fascinating river facts and stories. Each Volume is purchased separately. 

Volume 1 PRE-ORDER RIGHT HERE.   $9.95

 Volume 2 PRE-ORDER RIGHT HERE.  $9.95

 

 

Fall Color Forcasts for Mississippi River

 


Fall Foliage Hot Lines from greatriver.com

Mid-October seems to be the month when Fall Foliage really POPS along the Upper Mississippi River. You can follow its southward march with the contacts below. Weather is perfect, enjoy the drive!

Arkansas. 800-628-8725; www.1800natural.com (late October to early November)

Illinois.  800-226-6632; www.enjoyillinois.com (early October)

Kentucky. 800-225-8747;  (late October)

Minnesota. 800-657-3700; www.exploreminnesota.com (late September to mid-October)

Missouri. 800-778-1234; www.missouritourism.org (mid-to-late October)

Tennessee. 800-697-4200; www.state.tn.us/tourdev/ (early November)

Wisconsin. 800-432-8747; www.travelwisconsin.com (early through mid-October)


And don’t leave home without the indispensable guides to Mississippi River and Great River Road travel! Every volume of DISCOVER! America’s Great River Road is filled with a variety of fascinating Mississippi River fact and lore.  Photos, maps, charts!  All Volumes contain info on birding, wildlife viewing hotspots. Each highlights Geography, interpretive history and natural history attractions along the Great River Road.  SAVE $10!!!   Purchase ALL FOUR VOLUMES of Discover! America’s Great River Road… St. Paul, Minnesota, to Venice, Louisiana, individually signed by the author.   Four guides for $62.

How Fun is This? Cruising on the River Steamer, African Queen

African Queen Key Largo

How fun is this? The actual little river steamer from the movie, AFRICAN QUEEN, with Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart is docked in Key Largo, Florida at Mile Marker #100.



I was able to take the helm and pilot it during most of our cruise, and the gentle put-put of the engine and its “naked” operation was a huge delight. The boat itself celebrated its 100th year in 2012. It has been fitted with an 1880s steam engine and is available for short sightseeing and Dinner cruises through the canals of Key Largo and out into the Key Largo Sound.  It only carries a maximum of 10 people, there were 4 of us on our little excursion!

The iconic vessel was made famous in the 1951 movie of the same name and she still remains a timeless classic. This famous steamboat is available for daily canal cruises and dinner cruises in the Port Largo Canal area and also for private events. 54BE53F1-6C83-4CF9-8163-95498905E7DA   Engine and today’s diesel boiler.

A LITTLE HISTORY: The African Queen was built in Lytham, England in 1912 for service in Africa for the East Africa British Railways company. She was used to shuttle cargo, missionaries and hunting parties across the Victoria Nile and Lake Albert which was located on the border between the Belgian Congo and Uganda.

In 1951 she starred in the famous movie directed by John Huston. Afterwards she remained in service in Africa until 1968 when she was brought to the United States working in San Francisco, Oregon and Florida. She has been the pride and joy of  Key Largo since 1982, where she is registered as a National Historic site and in 2012 celebrated her centennial year.  Below is a video of the steam engine. It should be horizontal, not vertical!

It has been fitted with an 1880s steam engine and is available for short cruises through the canals of Key Largo and out into the Key Largo Sound.  Below left shows the steam engine and boiler (diesel). I also tried to insert a video of the engine operating.

 

CONTACT:  PHONE: 305.451.8080  Website: africanqueenflkeys.com  There is a lot of interesting info on the boat, the movie, and the history of its service in Africa!

 keywest

If the Florida Keys is one of your favorite places, check out our hand-painted historic and custom designed maps of Florida available for purchase or viewing by clicking HERE on our FLORIDA FINE ART MAP site!

Everyglades LR

Everyglades LR

Find the Everglades, all five coasts of Florida, and beautifully painted historic hand-painted historic and custom designed maps of Florida by clicking HERE on our FLORIDA FINE ART MAP site! 

Use the SEARCH BOX at Great River Arts to search ALL our extensive collection of Fine Art Maps from across the country and the world!! 

Special Pricing our most popular Book and Map RIVER BUNDLE… Great River Road/Mississippi River Guides and SAVE $30!

Perfect for Gift Giving! Need extra maps? Everyone who loves our 1887 map by Lisa Middleton will love Discover! America’s Great River Road, our comprehensive guide to life along the river for their favorite section!  Just CLICK HERE to purchase additional maps!

All Great River books can be ordered activity coverindividually as well. CLICK HERE to go Straight to BOOKS on our new Shopping Cart at Great River Arts.

Let us know if you have any questions!