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Tracking rising river levels this week

Recent heavy rains are causing rivers to rise right now. Here’s how high water levels are expected to get as new crests arrive this week.

The threat for widespread heavy rainfall is quickly coming to an end this evening, but a renewed threat for river flooding is now back on the table by the middle of the week.

Tracking rising river levels this week

A very moisture-rich air mass thanks to leftover moisture from what was left of Imelda in the Gulf of Mexico and additional moisture from the Pacific produced impressive rainfall totals that exceeded six inches in a few locations. This heavy rain corridor stretched from just south of Kewanee to just north of Peoria. One of our weather spotters, Richard Pinkowski recorded an impressive three-day rainfall total of 6.44″ in Altona, IL, just southeast of Woodhull.

Even though the heaviest rains fell south of the Quad Cities, we’ll still see some modest rises on both the Rock and Mississippi Rivers here by the middle of the week.

Tracking rising river levels this week

MISSISSIPPI RIVER:  (Note: Only minor flooding is expected to occur on the Mississippi River north of the Quad Cities at this time)

As things stand right now, the Mississippi River will rise around a foot and a half in the Quad Cities by Wednesday, putting it near the MODERATE FLOOD stage category at 15.9 feet. At this level, water begins to impact the sidewalks along the river at Le Claire Park. Water also affects Credit Island Lane and Moline’s River Drive in the 4700 block, according to the National Weather Service. The river is then expected to fall below flood stage by Saturday.

In Muscatine and Burlington the river will crest on Thursday rising a little more than a foot and a half reaching just shy of MODERATE FLOOD stage around 17.8 feet.

At this level in Muscatine water begins to impact portions of the Riverside Park parking lot.

In Burlington, the water level is expected to rise to 16.1 feet late Thursday evening. At this level, water begins to impact low lying buildings and homes in Montrose and Niota. Sullivan Slough Road south of the city is also impacted along with significant agricultural flooding in low-lying areas.  Levels are expected to fall below flood stage by early next week.

ROCK RIVER: 

The Rock River in Joslin will crest at 14.7 feet in MODERATE FLOOD stage by Wednesday evening before falling below flood stage next weekend. At this level, water begins to impact Lundeens Campground along with Barstow Road.

In Moline, the Rock River will crest at 13.2 feet in MODERATE FLOOD stage by Wednesday evening before falling below flood stage next weekend. At this level, water begins to impact parts of 60th street south of John Deere Road in Moline and 75th Avenue from Green Valley Park. Water is also on Canal Road in Big Island. Smith’s Island is affected by floodwaters.

It does appear more chances of rain will lie ahead for us this week and that could certainly change these numbers up a bit depending on how much we see. We’ll be tracking that in the days ahead. Until then, watch out for minor detours as waters begin to rise.

Meteorologist Andrew Stutzke

Here’s a look at the hour-by-hour forecast from the StormTrack 8 Weather App:

Tracking rising river levels this week

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