DAVENPORT, Iowa — The National Weather Service Quad Cities office has released a new forecast that has pushed the expected crests even higher on the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities region.
According to a release from the office on Thursday, the river at the Rock Island Lock and Dam 15 is now expected to crest in the 21 to 23-foot range in early May.
The record crest was set in 2019 at 22.7 feet.
The crest will vary depending on the amount of rainfall over the next few weeks. With little additional precipitation, the crest will fall closer to 21 feet.
Outlooks from the NWS for the next two weeks are not calling for significant precipitation across the region, but that will be monitored closely by the office.
The new forecast is based on spring snowmelt and recent precipitation and calls for crests from Dubuque southward to Burlington to occur mostly in early May.
“Our message this spring has been that the severity of flooding will be determined by the pace of the snowmelt, and any additional heavy precipitation events. Significant precipitation did occur recently in the upper portion of the Mississippi basin, and this has pushed the crest forecast higher,” said Matt Wilson, Senior Service Hydrologist at the NWS in the Quad Cities.