Mississippi River crest revised upward

Excessive rainfall upriver has led to a revised forecast of a higher Mississippi River crest at Cape Girardeau.

The National Weather Service raised its crest prediction by 2 feet Thursday from 34.5 feet Tuesday morning to 36.5 feet, more than four feet above flood stage, by Wednesday.

The river gauge at Cape Girardeau stood at 33.5 feet Thursday afternoon, about 1.5 feet above flood stage and about a half-foot higher than had been predicted that morning.

According to the NWS, the revised forecast is based on recent rainfall amounts along the Mississippi River basin north of Cape Girardeau, as well as anticipated precipitation in the next few days.

Based on the new forecast, the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department expects to close one of the downtown floodgates by this weekend.

“We will be closing the Themis Street floodgate, based on the updated forecast, sometime Friday,” Stan Polivick, director of Cape Girardeau’s Public Works Department, said Thursday afternoon. “But we won’t have to close the Broadway gate.” That gate, he said, can stay open as long as the river crest remains below 37.5 feet.

Once it crests Wednesday, the river is forecast to remain at about 36.5 feet through June 4 before rapidly dropping to below the 32-foot flood stage by June 8.

The record crest at Cape Girardeau was 48.86 feet Jan. 2, 2016. Last year the river crested at 46.36 feet June 11, which was the fifth-highest crest in the city’s history.

Do you crave business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Check it out at www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.