This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 22, 2013 - The good news along this neck of the Mississippi River is that expected crests have been significantly lowered by the National Weather Service in St. Louis.
Hydrologist Mark Fuchs said the river is now expected to crest at St. Louis at 35.1 feet at noon on Tuesday. The crest was originally forecast to reach 39 feet, which would have surpassed 2008 levels by several tenths of an inch. During the Great Flood of ’93, the river rose to just over 49 feet at St. Louis.
Flood stage at St. Louis is 30 feet; the river was at 34.6 feet Monday afternoon.
Fuchs said the new crest forecasts are based upon lower than expected flows on the Missouri River. Predicted rainfall Tuesday of between ¾ and 1 inch could raise the river level by an inch or two.
"We may or may not see much of a rise, but we will see the river staying up a little longer because of this rain event,’’ he said. “At the very least, crests would be prolonged.’’
The flooding along the Mississippi is the result of last week’s heavy rains -- 4 to 6-plus inches -- that soaked much of northeast Missouri, northern and west central Illinois and eastern Iowa. That rainfall also produced record flooding along the Illinois River.
The news Monday was also brighter for Clarksville, where volunteers and the Missouri National Guard had helped residents sandbag along the riverfront to keep the town dry. The Mississippi has crested at 35.3 feet, slightly below the original 35.7 feet forecast.
The National Weather Service is currently predicting that the river will crest at Grafton at 28.7 feet on Thursday and at Alton at 30 feet on Tuesday evening. The original forecast of 41.9 feet at Chester has been significantly lowered -- to 37.9 feet, expected Tuesday evening.
