Heavier weekend rain should stay north of our area

Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms are dotted throughout the region's Easter weekend forecast, but the heaviest rain should stay north of our area.

The rain activity is expected from Friday night through Monday morning.

Heavy rain of 1.5 to 3 inches is anticipated for southeast Missouri and southern Illinois between St. Louis and Mt. Vernon.

Lower rain amounts of a half inch to 1.5 inches are on tap for western Kentucky.

The heaviest rain will fall on Saturday. A risk of flash flooding and a rise of river levels is possible along the Current River, as well as the Black, St. Francis, Skillet Fork and Big Muddy Rivers, east to the Mississippi River above Cape Girardeau.

Rain in western Kentucky is not anticipated to cause additional flooding difficulties as the Ohio River is forecast to recede by about five feet over the weekend.