Heavy rain possible this weekend

More wet weather is on the way, starting Friday and lasting through the weekend and possibly beyond. Projections from the National Weather Service place Cape Girardeau at the northern edge of the "red" zone for the heaviest rain during the next 5 days.

It appears that we will be hit by multiple waves of showers and thunderstorms that could easily drop 1-3 inches of rain, with 4-5 inch totals not out of the question. Severe thunderstorms are also a possibility.

The NWS Paducah office is concerned about the prospect for flooding. Here is their latest hydrologic outlook:

MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LIKELY FROM FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW PATTERN WILL BECOME NEARLY STATIONARY AND ORIENTED FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST OVER THE AREA BY THE WEEKEND. WITHIN THE STRONG UPPER LEVEL FLOW...A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES ARE FORECAST TO MOVE OVER THE AREA. THIS...COMBINED WITH A PERSISTENT AND STRONG MOIST SOUTHERLY INFLUX FROM THE GULF REGION...WILL SET THE STAGE FOR TWO OR THREE ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND STORMS...WITH EACH ROUND POSSIBLY PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL.

MODEL RUNS OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS CONTINUE TO SUGGEST WIDESPREAD 1 TO 3 INCH RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. THE MODELS ARE PROJECTING SCATTERED AMOUNTS MAY BE AS HIGH AS 3 TO 5 INCHES AS WELL...FROM LATE FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE MODELS ARE SUGGESTING THE HIGHER RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL MOST LIKELY BE OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.

FLOODING MAY OCCUR BECAUSE RELATIVELY MOIST GROUND CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THIS WEEK DUE TO RECENT RAINS. THURSDAY WILL BE DRY AGAIN SO SOME IMPROVEMENT WILL CONTINUE. NEVER THE LESS...HEAVY RAINFALL COULD CAUSE SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS TO SWELL AND RISE CONSIDERABLY THIS WEEKEND INTO MONDAY. RISES ON AREA RIVERS WILL BE POSSIBLE AS WELL. LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS MAY FLOOD...AND LEAD TO TRAVEL IMPACTS SHOULD ROADS FLOOD AS A RESULT.