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DES MOINES, Iowa -- Flooding predictions for the Mississippi River are growing more dire.
"The potential is there for moderate to major flooding at most locations along the Mississippi River in Eastern Iowa. At some locations, we could see the flooding--the worst we've seen in 20 years," says National Weather Service Hydrologist Jeff Zogg.
He says there's a lot of snow on the ground in Minnesota and Wisconsin that's just waiting to melt and come downstream.
"We've been holding on to that snowpack for a long period of time--and the longer it goes, the greater the risk of a switch flipping of having a really quick warm-up and melting that snow rapidly. It looks like that's what's going to happen," Zogg says.
He says the National Weather Service has been working with emergency management officials in cities and counties up and down the river, getting them ready for rising waters.
"Right now it's not really a question of if the flooding's going to occur--it's a question of how significant that flooding's going to be," Zogg says.
He says the greatest threat for flooding on the Mississippi River is from the middle of this month through early May.