There's good news for residents and businesses along the Mississippi and other rivers in this area. Thanks to our recent warm spell, the chances for flooding have dropped.
Jessica Brooks, Hydrologist for the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities, says the snow is nearly gone thanks to the warm weather.
"The entire region saw this really slow melting of the snowpack. So we had warm conditions during the day and cold temperatures during the overnight period so that made the snow kind of "stair step" its way as it melted."
The first flood outlook for this spring, issued one month ago, predicted a 50 to 60 per cent chance of the Mississippi River reaching flood stage in the Quad Cities. Two weeks later, the outlook rose to 60 to 70 per cent. Now it's dropped below 50 per cent.
Brooks says the main variable now is rain.
"And that's really what our flood threat is going to be dependent on, now going through the spring - when, where, and how much precipitation we get over the coming months."
Another reason for the low flood threat this spring is warm weather in recent weeks has begun to thaw the ground, and that means it can absorb some of the rain that might fall here in the coming weeks.
