They’re cleaning out Athletic Park.

With the Minnesota River reaching flood stage in Chaska on Tuesday, and the crest not expected to occur until next Wednesday, it seems all but certain that Athletic Park will get wet in the days ahead.

“The initial games for the [Chaska] Cubs probably won’t be there,” City Administrator Matt Podhradsky told the council Monday night, adding that the high school likely wouldn’t be able to utilize the baseball field either.

Carver County issued its latest flood update this afternoon:

On the Minnesota River at Jordan the reading this afternoon was 25.32 ft. with a flood stage in Jordan of 25 ft. The Jordan location indicates an approximate 2.23 ft rise in the last 22 hours.

With one eye on the sky and one on the state’s rivers, flood forecasters are on the lookout for a messy spring.

“A wet fall and heavy winter snow indicate a potential for flooding in the Twin Cities and across Minnesota,” stated a press release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

If there’s one topic of conversation guaranteed to engage most Minnesotans it’s the weather. National Weather Service Meteorologist Michelle Margraf totally gets that.

“This here is the Super Bowl of weather,” she said.

Margraf is the CoCoRaHS coordinator for central and southern Minnesota. CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow) is a network of local weather observers who share their daily measurements of precipitation online.

Just days after the calendar recognized the change from fall to winter, seasonal weather struck Minnesota good, leaving a wide swath of white in its wake.

In Chaska, 17 inches of snow blanketed the ground, leaving no doubt that 2009 would be a “White Christmas.”

Luckily, plenty of advance notice about the snowstorm gave Chaska residents and employees time to prepare for the great hunker-down.

The U.S. Postal Service recently sent this reminder to residents to clear their walks for letter carriers:

Winter is here, with significant snow and ice sure to follow. That means slippery surfaces, which can be dangerous and costly for homeowners, as well as visitors – including their letter carrier. By clearing a path when the snow arrives, accidents can be prevented.