IT'S CRAZY WEATHER: ANCHORAGE WARMER THAN CAPE

On Tuesday morning it was warmer in Anchorage, Alaska, than it was in Cape Girardeau.

The overnight low at Anchorage was 37 degrees. It was 35 at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, tying the record low here for April 28, set in 1988.

On Monday a low of 30 degrees at the airport missed tying the record low here for April 27 by just 1 degree.

Temperatures around the state Tuesday were more typical of late March than late April, with lows in the 30s and low 40s. But no records were set, the National Weather Service said.

Columbia reported 36, while Springfield and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport reported a low of 38 on Tuesday. Vichy and Spirit of St. Louis Airport at Chesterfield both reported a morning low of 30.

The unusually cold air was centered Tuesday in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. A low of 29 degrees at Moline, Ill., broke the old record of 30 set in 1874. In Chicago, a low of 28 degrees broke the old record of 30 set in 1950.

At Paducah, a low of 32 broke a record of 36 set in 1967. Other morning lows on Tuesday included 36 at Evansville, 31 at Indianapolis, 39 at Memphis and 36 at Nashville.

Forecasters said a sharp bend in the jet stream late last week allowed cold air to spill into the Midwest over the weekend. After a high of 81 on Thursday, the high Friday was 71. By Sunday, under mostly cloudy skies, the high was 51. Monday's high hit 55, almost 15 degrees below the average daytime high.

The threat of frost and freezing temperatures over the weekend in exposed areas of Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri forced gardeners to again cover plants. Although the average date of the last killing freeze in Cape Girardeau is April 2, records indicate a killing freeze occurred here on May 17, 1968. The last killing freeze was on April 3, when the temperature at the airport fell to 28 degrees.

Warmer weather is expected by the end of the week. The weather service said highs Saturday are expected to range in the low- to mid-80s, with a chance of thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi River should continue a slow fall after rising to within a foot of flood stage at Cape Girardeau on Saturday.

The river crested here on Saturday at 31.1 feet, nine-tenths of a foot under flood stage. By Tuesday it fell to 30.1 feet. The Mississippi was forecast to drop to 29.1 feet today, 28.3 on Wednesday, and 27.9 on Thursday. The 30-day outlook indicates the river here will fall to around 20 feet by next week, and down to 18 feet by May 20.

But weather service hydrologist Jack Burns warned that any significant rain along the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis or the Upper Mississippi River basin north of St. Louis would change those forecast.

Burns said the rise here was caused by extensive rain last week in northern Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. Serious flooding in unprotected areas in Cape Girardeau does not occur until the river reaches 35 feet on the gauge.