Concerned that Raquette River water levels may begin to rise again, National Weather Service officials have re-issued a flood advisory.

“Water levels continue to slowly fall, but river flow remains swift and potentially dangerous,” said Greg Hanson, hydrologist with the weather service.

The flood advisory will remain in effect until 9:45 a.m. Thursday. “We can re-evaluate tomorrow to do another one or let it expire,” he said.

The Raquette in recent weeks has flooded a number of homes and businesses, primarily in Colton and Potsdam, causing more than $1 million in damage. Colton, Potsdam and St. Lawrence County all declared a state of emergency last week in response to the flooding.

With a 30 to 50 percent chance of rain predicted for this weekend, “there is high confidence that the dry pattern we’ve been in will change, but low confidence in where the heaviest rains will be,” Hanson said. “We are seeing signals that places could see as much as two to three inches of rain over a couple of days.”

Because the Raquette basin absorbed over two inches of rain last week without rising again at Piercefield, Hanson said he’s optimistic. “By the time the next round of rain starts up, we’ll have gone over a week without rain, rivers are much lower than for the May 4-5 rainfall, and the greening vegetation will be a mitigating factor.”

He noted that flow forecasts for Piercefield continue to “show a downward trend.” Hanson added that the rain forecast for this weekend is “too out in the future to be included in the river forecasts. Typically, we incorporate forecast rainfall when it gets within 48 hours.”

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