FARGO, N.D. — Volunteers who are filling sandbags in the Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota area caught a brief break Thursday when the National Weather Service slightly lowered its spring flooding forecast in the southern Red River Valley.

Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney said his city is now preparing for a 38-foot flood, rather than the original 39-foot estimate that would have required a stockpile of 400,000 sandbags. The new forecast will drop that to 250,000 bags.

The difference between 38 feet, which is 20 feet above flood stage, and 39 feet would require the construction of 4 miles of levees rather than 8 miles, Mahoney said.

“So we’re happy about that,” the mayor said. “But any flood over 30 feet is big for our community. We’ll see what the next two weeks brings, but we’ll be ready.”

There hasn’t been a major snowstorm in two months, but precipitation levels from September through February were at record levels in some parts of the basin. The latest outlook included a new warning about a late spring thaw, raising the possibilities of a heavy snow or rain event in April.

“We still think the flood threat is still very real and quite high,” weather service meteorologist Greg Gust said.