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NOAA News || NOAA Home Page || Previous Story NOAA TRACKS VIOLENT WEEKEND WEATHER IN CENTRAL UNITED STATES; MIDWEST FLOODING STILL A PROBLEM
A tornado in Washington County, west of Blair, Neb., (north of Omaha), Sunday, injured one person and leveled outbuildings, while another tornado struck a farm south of Mead in Saunders County. Funnel clouds were reported south of Lincoln, and Seward County, Neb., reported 50-60 mph winds. High winds and damage reports extended into the Des Moines, Iowa, area with gusts ranging between 60-80 mph. In South Dakota, rain turned to snow early Sunday morning and resulted in reports of 20-23 inches between Rapid City and Keystone. A swath of 12-18 inches of snow extended from just south of Faith, S.D., in Meade County to just west of Custer. Twelve to 18 inches fell over southeastern Jackson, Mellette, and Todd counties, while other locations in southwestern South Dakota received 6-12 inches. Southeastern South Dakota experienced heavy rainfall over the weekend with totals of 3-4.5 inches in parts of the Big Sioux River basin and 1.5-2.5 inches in the Little Sioux drainage area. The Little Sioux Spencer was at 10.9 feet Monday morning and expected to crest at 15 feet April 25. Flood stage at Spencer is 10 feet. The Big Sioux River at Sioux Falls north was at 19.8 feet Monday morning (flood stage 16 feet) and is expected to crest near 23.5 feet April 24, falling below flood stage on May 2. Heavy rains of more than three inches fell over a wide area from Sioux Falls to St. Cloud, Minn., over the weekend and will likely cause rivers in southern Minnesota to again come close to crests experienced earlier in April. Smaller rivers, such as the Cottonwood, Redwood and Sauk, are expected to rise quickly and could crest at levels higher than experienced earlier. Larger rivers, such as the Minnesota, Mississippi and St. Croix, are expected to rise more slowly but to come close to or exceed the previous crests. For example, the Mississippi River at St. Paul crested April 19 at 23.4 feet. It is expected to crest at 23.5-24.5 May 1. Near-record flooding is forecast for the Mississippi River at Quad Cities Dam near Davenport, Iowa. The river was at 21.7 feet Monday morning (flood stage 15 feet), and is expected to crest near 22.5 feet late Tuesday. The record crest at that location is 22.63 feet set in 1993. The Mississippi was at 20.5 feet Monday morning at Burlington, Iowa, (flood stage 15 feet), and is expected to crest Wednesday night at 21-21.5 feet. River forecasters at the National Weather Service said the river will remain near crest level for 36 hours or more. The record crest at Burlington is 25.10 feet set in 1993. Despite the weekend rains,
St. Louis is still
expected to crest below flood stage early in May. NOAA's
National Weather Service Central Region, with links to 38 forecast
offices
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