Lower Mississippi River Forecast

The nation's weather

The South-Central US was expected to continue to be hot and humid on Saturday, while the central states will see plenty area of active weather. A ridge of high pressure over the southeastern states was expected to slightly shift to the west, but produce temperatures over 100 degrees for the Southern Plains and the South. Heat indices between 110-120 for the Lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast were expected. Meanwhile, a frontal boundary was expected to push through the Tennessee Valley and Mid-Atlantic kicking up rain showers and thunderstorms. In addition, the remnants of Emily off the eastern coast of Florida were expected to contribute to showers over parts of Florida.

To the north, an area of low pressure spinning over the Ohio River Valley was expected to bring moderate to light showers and thunderstorms to the region and Great Lakes. However, high pressure off the coast of New England was expected to produce mostly sunny and dry conditions for the extreme Northeast.

In the Central US, a low pressure system was forecast to move eastward off the Rockies into the Northern Plains producing widespread areas of showers and possible severe thunderstorms across the Northern and Central Plains. Heavy downpours and strong winds were likely to be associated with these storms, with flash flooding possible across the North Central US.

To the west, monsoonal moisture was expected to persist in the Southwest triggering scattered showers over the Four Corners region. At the same time, low pressure spinning over Canada was expected to push light showers and clouds to the northwestern states. Meanwhile, the West Coast was expected to be mostly sunny, with low clouds on the coasts during the morning hours. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday have ranged from a morning low of 32 degrees at Truckee-Tahoe, Calif. to a high of 111 degrees at Cushing, Okla.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Lower Mississippi River Up Next for Historical Flooding

Residents along the lower Mississippi River are bracing for the unprecedented flooding that will spill southward as this month progresses.

The mighty Mississippi River will not stop rising despite an absence of frequent heavy rain events through at least early next week.

It is virtually inevitable that the river will significantly overflow its banks in eastern Arkansas, western Mississippi and Louisiana as flood waters farther upstream drain southward to the Gulf of Mexico.

The lower Mississippi River is forecast by the National Weather Service’s River Forecast Center to approach or past levels not seen since 1937, or in some cases 1927.

“[The flooding] could become yet another natural disaster for the U.S. this year,” stated AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski .

“Impacts will range from large agricultural and small farmsteads being swallowed by deep waters to unprotected small towns and portions of large cities being flooded by muddy inundations,” Sosnowski added.

The river, along with neighboring parts of the Ohio River, remains near or at record levels in the vicinity of southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois.

Caruthersville, Mo., is the latest location along the Mississippi River to set a new record stage. Earlier this morning, the river exceeded the old record level of 46.0 feet.

Projections bring the river at Memphis , Tenn., to within a foot of the record stage of 48.70 feet in one week.

The river at Natchez, Miss., will remain below major flood stage through this weekend. However, the Mississippi is expected to rise to an unprecedented 65.0 feet in about 2.5 weeks.

The highest the river has ever been at this location is 58.04 feet on Feb. 21, 1937.

Record flooding will occur soon after in Baton Rouge , La., with a forecast crest of 47.5 feet.

In anticipation of the historic flooding, the Army Corps of Engineers told the Associated Press that they may use “floodways” to divert water from the swollen river.

The goal of these actions would be to relieve pressure on levees and save downstream towns and cities.

Such a tactic was used Monday night to prevent severe flooding in Cairo, Ill. The Army Corps blasted a portion of a levee to direct water from the river onto 130,000 acres of prime agricultural land in southeastern Missouri.

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