There have been some good signs to end February. Especially if you move barges up and down the Mississippi River.
"Warming up then cooling off," said Lee Nelson at Upper River Services in St. Paul."We're kind of getting ideal conditions. Hopefully within the next month or so we'll be back in operation."
Good signs after high river levels brought barge traffic to a halt last spring.
However, the message Tuesday was a few good signs aren't enough to let your guard down.
"We have a higher than normal snowpack," said Elizabeth Nelson with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
She says crews are out taking ground measurements of snow.
"We are taking snow surveys over our whole district," said Nelson.
She says despite this weekends early melt, readings are still showing several inches of water in snow.
"A little more concern than normal," said Nelson.
In Chanhassen, NOAA's aerial readings are showing similar results.
"We fly all over the country throughout the winter months," said Greg Fall with National Weather Service.
"It's giving us some really good ground truth in telling us that the snowpack indeed has so much water in it," said Hydrologist Craig Schmidt.
He says more water in the snow causes more runoff. That creates higher river levels and possible flooding in the spring.
That is why Lee knows even with good signs now there's still a cause for concern.
"This is good for the end of February, but we got March and April," said Nelson. "We won't know the answer obviously for weeks and months yet to come."