Mississippi River reaches flood stage

How high is the water? According to the National Weather Service, 32 feet and rising Tuesday evening, which is officially flood stage.

"It is forecasted to continue to rise through Sunday," said Robin Smith, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky. "It's going to rise the whole time."

At Cape Girardeau, the Mississippi River reaches flood stage at 32 feet. At 35 feet, the city closes the floodgate at Themis Street, public works director Tim Gramling said.

If the river continues to rise at its current rate, city workers will close that gate Friday, Gramling said.

The Broadway floodgate closes at 37.5 feet. Gramling doesn't anticipate having to close the Broadway gate in the foreseeable future, but Smith said meteorologists do not yet know at what point the river will crest.

"At Cape Girardeau, there really isn't a crest forecasted yet," he said. "Right now, it's expected to continue to rise through the current forecast period."

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the river was two-tenths of a foot -- less than 2 and a half inches -- from flood stage, Smith said.

By 7 p.m., it had reached 32.06 feet, according to the National Weather Service website.

Smith said the river is expected to reach 36 feet by Sunday morning.

When the river reaches moderate flood stage -- defined as 37 feet -- tributaries begin flooding, creating more problems, Smith said.

"When it's moderate flooding, it affects much more area, and then, also, we start having problems with the tributaries flowing into it," he said.

For instance, the Big Muddy River in Southern Illinois may begin backing up, and when the Mississippi reaches 38 to 40 feet at Thebes, Illinois, larger rivers -- such as the Ohio, which joins the Mississippi near Cairo, Illinois -- start to rise, Smith said.

"Sooner or later, it's going to affect the Ohio River, because there's just nowhere for the water in the Ohio River to go," he said.

The river level depends in large part on rainfall north of the area, Smith said.

Areas just north of St. Louis have seen moderate flooding, with some bridges closing because of flooded on-ramps, and some areas between St. Louis and Quincy, Illinois, have had major flooding, Smith said.

Locally, Smith said a cold front moving into the region brought a chance of showers Tuesday evening, with the next chance of rain occurring over the weekend.

He said the humidity in the area should be lower today and Thursday, with highs in the mid-80s.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Broadway and Water Street, Cape Girardeau, MO

Themis and Water Street, Cape Girardeau, MO

Thebes, IL