Mississippi crest revised down to 19.2 feet for Q-C

By Barb Ickes | Tuesday, April 29, 2008

First the good news: The Quad-Cities is within one-tenth of an inch of the new and reduced crest on the Mississippi River.

The crest now is predicted at 19.2 feet, and the Mississippi currently is at 19.15 feet.

And now the bad news: It is possible, depending on how much rain falls north of here, that the Quad-Cities will experience a second crest next week.

“The 3- to 5-inch prediction to the north is a worst-case scenario that would likely deliver a second crest,” National Weather Service hydrologist Jeff Zogg said at noon today. “It is more likely that areas north will get 1 to 3 inches, which would slow the rate of the river’s fall. It could cause it to temporarily stop receding.”

He said there are too many variables at play to predict the height of a second crest.

Zogg said it is important to remember that heavy rainfall is merely “a worst-case scenario” and what is more likely to happen is a slower fall to the floodwaters that already are here.