QUAD CITIES, Iowa -- Flood warnings are being posted for the Mississippi River in Eastern Iowa.
"We're about 24 to 48 hours away from our first flooding in the Dubuque area. We actually already have a bit of ongoing flooding on the southern part of the river down by Gladstone (Illinois)," says Quad Cities National Weather Service Hydrologist Matt Wilson.
He says this first wave of flooding is being driven by last week's warm weather in Minnesota and Wisconsin that rapidly melted some of the deep snow pack in those states.
Wilson says this is the start of what could be weeks of high water on the river.
"We're expecting rises to continue on the Mississippi main stem from the very last week of April through the very first week of May," he says.
The National Weather Service expects the Mississippi River to crest at about 20.5 feet at the Rock Island, Illinois gauge in the Quad Cities by the end of the month--that's well below the record 22.7 feet in 2019. Wilson says this year's flooding is different that what the area saw four years ago.
"We're currently expecting it (the river's level) to go up, then come back down pretty gradually. It's not going to stay elevated for an extended period of time like it did back in 2019," Wilson says.
The other bit of good news when it comes to Mississippi River flooding--Wilson says the eight to 14 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center has the area with a below-average chance for precipitation.