Flood — Berrien, Michigan

2018-02-20 · near Michiana Shrs, Berrien, Michigan

Event narrative

Extensive flooding occurred across the county with over 300 structures suffering varying degrees of damage from the flood waters. Several roads were closed across the area with some suffering partial washouts as rivers rose to record or near record levels. Initial damage estimates are at least 8 million dollars.

Wider weather episode

A slow release of a snow pack, containing one to over two inches of water, occurred in the days leading to the event which started the process of river rises in many areas. Low pressure tracked from northwest Iowa into northern Lower Michigan, which ushered in a rapid warmup and equally rapid release of any remaining water in the snowpack. Several rounds of rain occurred between the 19th and 21st of February across the region, fed by record high precipitable water levels (by February standards) in the 1.3 to 1.5 inch range. A swath of four to six inches of rain fell northwest of a Sturgis to Coldwater line. All these factors combined to cause extensive flooding in the St Joseph river basin, with a record crest occurring at Niles. These water levels forced evacuations of homes and closure of businesses and schools, rescues from those driving into flood waters and an overwhelming of water treatment facilities in a few communities. Preliminary damage estimates across Berrien, Cass and St Joseph counties was in excess of nine million dollars.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.7586, -86.8166)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 741201. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.