3:40 p.m. - MARMARTH - Normally, a guy doesn't get his ankles wet crossing the Little Missouri River in the western North Dakota Badlands.

Starting Saturday and through Tuesday, the river was way over that guy's head and causing minor flooding in some locations.

The river looks like someone turned on a jet action latte machine upstream, with the loud frothy muddy water looking more like milky coffee than water.

All the water is from the rapid meltdown of a heavy spring storm last mid-week that left 2 feet of snow in parts of Bowman and Slope counties, killed an unknown number of cattle and sheep and still has ranches without power in the Grand Electric Cooperative service area out of Bison, S.D.

No one's expecting major flooding along the river. However, people are keeping a close eye on the situation and keeping tabs on water data posted by the National Weather Service, especially in light of Monday night's new snowfall in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The source of the Little Missouri River is near Devil's Tower in northeastern Wyoming, but it passes through northwestern South Dakota on its way north and some Black Hills' runoff could reach it through tributary creeks.

The weather agency posts Little Missouri River levels and predictions for Camp Crook, S.D., Marmarth, Medora and Watford City.

The surge of high water had cleared through Camp Crook and Marmarth, but was expected to crest at 14 feet in Medora late Tuesday. Flood stage is 15 feet, but even that would remain fairly minor, dampening low spots in Chimney Park and southwest of town.

A major flood occurs at 20 feet, last seen in Medora in 1947.

The high water means that all low-water crossings on the river are out of commission and probably will be for another week or two while the water recedes and the mud dries up.

The outage of ranch and road crossings means some ranchers are further from their cattle than normal, during calving and branding season.

Nikki Brown, who ranches northwest of Marmarth, said their cattle are across the river. It's normally seven miles crossing the river and more than an hour's trip down and around on the Highway 12 bridge at Marmarth.

"I can see the water from my window and that's quite unusual," she said. "Pretty much for us, it's just an inconvenience."

She said the water only once threatened the ranch buildings in their family's 100-year history.

Marmarth rancher Theresa Brewer said she's seeing Little Missouri River water where she's rarely seen it before - backing up Dry Creek behind the house and making an island out of her calving pasture.

She said she had 40 cows in the pasture that calved in March. She said she delayed branding and hustled them to a pasture high and dry up near Pretty Butte Sunday.

"When it comes below our house, that's when it's high," she said.

Brewer was at the Marmarth bridge Monday afternoon, taking photographs along with a couple of ranchers who'd driven over from Rhame to see the water.

"Normally, you could walk across that," she said of the river. It was high, loud and swirling around the concrete bridge piers.

Patti Perry, Marmarth city councilwoman, said the city's 60-year-old dike was up for the job, though even the weekend peak didn't reach the dike base.

"It's high … , but I've seen it a lot higher," she said.

She said a couple of young people got their vehicles stranded in a park area where Beaver Creek empties into the Little Missouri River on the town's outskirts Saturday night. Heavy equipment was used to pull the vehicles out before they moved downstream.

Flood stage at Marmarth is 18 feet. Monday the water was at 13 feet, down four-tenths of a foot since Saturday. The big swell was moving toward Medora.

Medora was in what the weather agency called an "action stage" Tuesday morning and the river was expected to crest at 14 feet late Tuesday afternoon, gradually tapering off to near 12 feet Friday. Flood stage at Medora is 15 feet, which was last seen in 1978.

That year water came up into Chimney Park on the tourist town's west side.

Billings County Emergency Manager Hallie Lavelle said right now, action means watching the river.

Lavelle said ranchers have moved livestock and equipment from low lands near the river.

She said the high water was moving into a scrubby willow area on the west side below the historic Choteau de Mores'.

It helps that the meltdown is straightforward, all water and no ice, so "it's just going to flow. So far there are no problems."

Bowman County emergency manager Dear Pearson said he's still tallying livestock deaths from the storm that so quickly turned to running water.

He said mud kept some ranchers from checking all their pastures and draws, but preliminary reports of livestock fatalities in North Dakota were fairly light and spotty, with the exception of a south Rhame rancher, who may have lost 50 head.

Pearson said heaviest livestock losses - more to sheep than cattle - were sustained across the state line in Harding County, S.D., where winds topped 75 mph during the snow storm.

He said some 1,700 power poles would have to be replaced in the Harding and Perkins counties area.

Damage to the power system and to livestock, plus equipment costs to move snow will push storm costs well over the $1 million mark.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 1-888-303-5511, or lauren@westriv.com.)