Stillwater, Minn. Mayor Ted Kozlowski lives in an old house on top of a hill. Every year his basement floods in the same spot, but this year it’s flooding from the west side. It’s a bad sign, he says.
The last time it happened was 2001, when the St. Croix River flooded and rose to around 690 feet above sea level, or about 14 feet higher than it is today.
Current forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict a 73 percent chance the St. Croix will reach those heights again over the next few weeks — for the first time since 2001.
Worries have risen in recent weeks that heavy winter precipitation and a slow thaw so far are boosting chances of major flooding in Stillwater and in St. Paul, where forecasters now see at least a 50 percent chance of the Mississippi River reaching major flood stage. | 
