March sets monthly rainfall record in Cape Girardeau

March 2008 has set the record for the most rain ever in a month since records have been kept in Cape Girardeau.

By 9 p.m. Monday, 0.92 inches of rain had fallen at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport's National Weather Service reporting site. The rain brought the total for March to 17.24 inches, topping the previous monthly mark of 16.89 inches set in Mary 1973.

More rain continued to fall across the area just before 10 p.m.

Area under flood, tornado watches

The National Weather Service had much of Southeast Missouri under a tornado watch and flash flood watch as of 6:15 p.m. today.

Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott and Stoddard counties in the Southeast Missourian coverage area were under both watches. The tornado watch was set to continue through 1 a.m. Tuesday.

A flash flood watch was in effect for all of the Southeast Missourian coverage area through Tuesday morning. The short term forecast for Southeast Missouri had a large line of intense thunderstorms moving toward the area at 6:15 p.m., expected to impact the area "over the next few hours" with frequent lightning, torrential downpours, gusty winds and small hail possible.

"Essentially we are looking at it sweeping through," said Alex Dodd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. "That is not to say we couldn't see some of the storms training, but it won't be spending hours and hours here. It is more on the order of one to three inches of rain and generally one inch or two inches for most of the region."