The Mississippi River continues to run very high across Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri, causing flooding in many areas. The river is expected to crest later this week or early next week.
Flood warnings remain along the Mississippi River stretching from St. Paul to north of St. Louis. In addition to the Mississippi, the James River and the Red River are expected to rise to moderate to major flood stage.
This year’s flood threat along the Mississippi is expected to be higher compared to previous years’ because of the high amounts of melting snow in parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota. The Mississippi River at Rock Island near Davenport is currently at 19.29 feet and is rising. It is expected to crest at 21.6 feet on Monday.
In the West, flood watches are in effect for the Sierra Mountains in California, including Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite Valley. Temperatures will soar through the weekend and rapid snowmelt from the mountains will cause streams and rivers to quickly rise. Highs will be 10 to 20 degrees above average for the rest of the week and overnight lows will be above freezing even as high as 8,000 feet.
This extended period of very warm temperatures will cause flooding along waterways even in Yosemite National Park. This includes the Merced River, the Carson River and the Walker River.
Elsewhere, more than 20 million people were under severe storm threats across the southern Plains and Florida. The main concern across the southern Plains are golf-ball to softball-sized hail and strong tornadoes.
A rare large hail threat is possible in Florida, and in the Texas cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Wichita Falls, Waco, and Abilene, there is a tornado risk this evening.
