Flood conditions expected to linger longer

Remnants of Tropical Depression Cristobal, coupled with rainfall earlier this week along the Mississippi River basin, have combined to keep the river above flood stage at Cape Girardeau longer than originally forecast.

The National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky, had predicted the river at Cape Girardeau would drop below the 32 feet flood stage on the Cape Girardeau gage by the end of this week.

However, a fresh forecast issued Tuesday morning calls for the river to remain above 32 feet until at least June 17 or 18.

“Obviously, the rain we’ve experienced and remnants of the tropical storm are keeping it high,” Rachel Trevino, a meteorologist with the NWS told the Southeast Missourian. She said Cape Girardeau’s river stage predictions take into account past precipitation as well as rainfall amounts expected in the coming days.

Cristobal, which had been classified as a tropical storm as it moved north across the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend, was downgraded to a tropical depression as it came ashore Monday. However, it still brought strong winds along with isolated storms and flood threats from the Gulf Coast to Wisconsin early in the week.

As of Tuesday, the NWS forecast for the Cape Girardeau vicinity called for only a 0% to 10% chance of rainfall through Friday and into the weekend.

On Tuesday afternoon, the river on the Cape Girardeau gage measured 34.9 feet, about 2 feet below its 36.8-foot crest June 3 and nearly 3 feet higher than the river’s 32-foot flood stage.

The NWS predicts the river will hover between 34 and 35 feet until June 16 when it should begin dropping to about 25 feet by June 22.

The record river crest at Cape Girardeau was 48.86 feet recorded Jan. 2, 2016.

A year ago, on June 11, the river crested at 46.36 feet, which was the fifth highest crest ever recorded on the Cape Girardeau river gage.

For the latest weather conditions, forecast and river levels, visit www.semissourian.com/weather.

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