Flood watch issued for Redstone

REDSTONE ” The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for the Crystal River near Redstone, south of Carbondale, for Wednesday morning.

The river level was at 3.2 feet as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to the weather service office in Grand Junction. The bankful stage is at 3.2 feet and the flood stage is at 5.0 feet, the agency said.

The forecast was for the river to exceed 3.8 feet by Wednesday morning. Warm temperatures this week have started melting the snow in the high country. Local rivers and streams were noticeably higher on Monday and Tuesday. The snowpack remained about 124 percent above average for this time of year east of Aspen Tuesday afternoon.

A flood watch also was issued for the Colorado River Valley. The weather service said the Colorado River near Dotsero was at 8.6 feet on Tuesday morning. The flood stage is at 12 feet. The river was forecast to rise to 9.1 feet on Thursday evening.

The Colorado River was forecast to exceed the full bank stage below Glenwood Springs. “Minor flooding of low lying areas is likely,” the weather service said.