Here We Go Again...

The Mississippi River at the Carrollton gage finally dropped under 15 feet, but not for long.  All the gages upriver are rising, including those on the Ohio River.  Forecasts here now have the Carrollton gage nearing 17 feet again during the first 2 weeks in April.  So what's going on?

For many months the main upper pattern has a tough over the West with a ridge over the Southeast.  Look how chilly California is!  

 

System after system comes out of the west and heads across the South, but well north of us.  Last year the heavy rains were centered from Nebraska through Iowa into Illinois.  This year the track has been from north Texas through Arkansas into Kentucky & Tennessee.  Even though we haven't seen much rain here, so much has fallen to our north keeping the Mississippi's levels very high for months.  I don't see any major pattern shift for another week, meaning several more rain storms are coming across the same folks who don't need it.  look for our high River levels to linger into May.

 

The other big weather story is record warmth as we blew by today's record high of 84.  Expect more records to tumble until our next front arrives on Saturday. Perhaps the early heat will knock down our current virus outbreak?   Got to be optimistic!    Models are indicating an east coast trough for next week that would finally bring down several surges of cooler & drier air.  Now I know that will make many of you very happy!  Stay tuned!