The river gauge at the Paducah riverfront fell below that threshold on Saturday. As of Sunday afternoon, the river was at 37.5 feet. That's in contrast to February 25, when the river had swelled to more than 53 feet.
The river is forecast to go below 32 feet at Paducah by Thursday afternoon. That's when the city of Paducah will stop running all of its flood pumps.
From Golconda upstream, the Ohio is completely out of flood conditions.
Downstream at Cairo, the Ohio River has fallen more than five feet since last Sunday, but is still experiencing moderate flooding. As of Sunday, Cairo's river gauge was at 48.7 feet. Cairo's forecast doesn't see the Ohio out of flood stage until well into April.
Much of the blame for high water on the Ohio at Cairo is the swelling Mississippi River. It's in moderate flood stage at many points from Cape Girardeau all the way up to Iowa.
For much of the past week, the river gauge at Cape Girardeau has hovered at 38 feet, well above flood stage of 32 feet. Next week, part of the record flood waters from Nebraska and western Iowa will travel down the Missouri River and enter the Mississippi near St. Louis. By next weekend, the river at Cape Girardeau is forecast to rise to over 40 feet.
On the Net:
NWS Rivers and Lakes summary page
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