Rain storms expected later this week could lead to another crest along the Missouri River and its tributaries just as residents are cleaning up from this spring’s flooding. National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Low said that more than an inch of rain is expected to fall in Nebraska and Iowa later this week.

Low says the storms between Wednesday and Friday could create a 1-foot rise in the level of the Missouri River around Omaha and cities downstream starting next weekend.

But it’s not yet clear how much additional flooding that rise could create.

The Mills County Emergency Management Agency along with other local officials will be hosting a flood information meeting today at 2:00pm in the Glenwood High School Auditorium. Presenters will include Mills County Emergency Management, Pacific Junction and Glenwood governmental officials, Glenwood Municipal Utilities, Glenwood School Superintendent, and lots of information on resources, FEMA and more.

In order to assist those that can’t make it to the meeting, KJAN will offer a live stream of the meeting through our facebook page KJAN AM 1220

The feed will be available a few minutes prior to the start of the meeting. We will attempt to post a link directly to our news page of the video as well for easy location.

Today: Showers likely before 8am, then rain likely, mainly between 8am and 3pm. Cloudy, with a high near 53. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north northeast in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tonight: Cloudy, with a low around 35. North northeast wind 8 to 10 mph.
Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Northeast wind 7 to 9 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Northeast wind 3 to 6 mph.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 52.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 66. Windy.

Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 54. Our Low was 32. We received .02” rain over the past 24-hours at the KJAN studios in Atlantic (as of 7-a.m. Today). Last year on this date our High was 35 and the Low was 31. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 83 in 1967. The Record Low was -2 in 1974.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Even as floodwaters receded in hard-hit places in in the Midwest, experts warned Saturday that with plenty of snow still left to melt in northern states, the relief may only be temporary. Rainfall and some snowmelt spurred flooding in recent weeks that’s blamed in three deaths so far, with two men in Nebraska missing for more than a week. Thousands were forced from their homes in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, as water broke through or poured over levees in the region. The damage is estimated at $3 billion, and that figure is expected to rise.
As temperatures start to warm, snowmelt in the Dakotas and Minnesota will escalate, sending more water down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and their tributaries.

Lt. Col. James Startzell, deputy commander of the Corps of Engineers’ Omaha, Nebraska, district, said even warmer temperatures are possible into next week. He urged people living near rivers to be watchful. Bill Brinton, emergency management director for hard-hit Buchanan County, Missouri, which includes St. Joseph’s 76,000 residents, said his counties and surrounding ones have already been ravaged by flooding. A precautionary evacuation involving hundreds of homes in the St. Joseph area was lifted as the Missouri River began a swift decline after unofficially rising to a new all-time high, inches above the 1993 record. St. Joseph was largely spared, but Brinton said 250 homes were flooded in the southern part of Buchanan County. It wasn’t clear when residents would be able to get back.

When they do, officials say they need to be careful. Contaminants that escaped from flooded farm fields, industrial operations and sewage plants are part of the murky water now saturating homes. In Fremont County, Iowa, homes remain underwater, so it will be some time before residents can return, said county Supervisor Randy Hickey. “We don’t want them in that water, anyway,” Hickey said. Experts also warn that sharp objects — broken glass, pieces of metal, pointy sticks and rocks — could lurk in muddy debris. Downed or broken power lines also may pose electrocution hazards.

Another risk is posed by wildlife. Brinton said two people in Buchanan County, MO, were bitten by snakes after returning home following flooding in 2011. The Missouri River had yet to crest further downstream in Missouri, but the flooding impact in those areas was expected to be far less severe. In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem activated 13 members of the Army National Guard to help distribute water on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after floodwaters washed out a county waterline. The guardsmen will provide drinkable water to people in the communities of Red Shirt, Pine Ridge, Porcupine, Evergreen and Wounded Knee. The Guard will set up from a central location in each community until the waterline is fixed.

Even the lower Mississippi River was impacted. The U.S. Coast Guard on Friday rescued two boaters from a disabled vessel near New Orleans. Coast Guard officials said the flooding means more debris in the river, and the currents can pull a boat into danger.

Today: Increasing cloudiness w/rain, mainly this afternoon. High 54. SE @ 10.

Tonight: Cloudy w/rain. Low 44. Variable breeze @ 5-10.

Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy w/rain (mainly in the morning). High near 50. N @ 10.

Monday: P/Cldy. High 48.

Tuesday: P/Cldy. High 54.

Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 63. Our Low was 25. Last year on this date our High was 49 and the Low was 33. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 86in 1910. The Record Low was 4 in 1974.

(Radio Iowa) — National forecasts show the potential for continued flooding across the country as we move further into spring. D-N-R Hydrologist Tim Hall says it is hard to believe we had some extreme areas of drought in the state back in September. The wet fall washed any dry conditions in a trend that’s been seen across the country. “This is the first time in almost a decade that there is no drought in California. In fact — there’s almost no drought in the entire eastern half of the United States. As in zero,” Hall says.

The abundance of groundwater is usually welcomed in Iowa.  “We went into the winter with a pretty healthy level of soil moisture — which normally is a good thing — because that means when you get out to do the next year’s planting, you’ve got moisture to build of off,” according to Hall. “But once that moisture gets locked in for the winter, that combined with a lot of snowfall, and some untimely rain, has led to some significant flooding conditions.” The water balance is now on the wrong side. “We’re in a tenuous spot. If we get a heavy dose of rain, we could see some at least localize, if not some large scale flood issues,” Hall says.

He says the entire state could use some dry days to drain. “Even just a few weeks of dry weather would really, really help. The water can drain out of the stream system fairly quickly — and that’ll give the chance for the tile drains to drain the soil profile where the land has tile under it,” Hall says. “Unfortunately we are coming into the beginning of the time period where we historically have a lot of moisture that comes. April May and June.”

Hall says we can only hope there are enough dry days to make some room in the waterways to handle any of the spring rains.

Today: Areas of fog this morning; Mostly sunny this afternoon. High 56. NE @ 10.

Tonight: Fair to Partly cloudy. Low 30. Winds light & variable.

Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy w/light rain in the afternoon. High 52.

Sunday: Cloudy w/rain. High 50.

Monday: P/Cldy. High 48.

Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 56. Our Low this morning 27. Last year on this date our High was 58 and the Low was 36. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 86 in 1910. The Record Low was -6 in 1912.

This is NOT what we want to hear! U.S. weather experts say the stage is set for unprecedented major flooding this spring for most of the nation. In Thursday’s spring forecast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says more than 200 million Americans are at risk for some kind of flooding, with 13 million of them at risk of major inundation.

National Weather Service deputy director Mary Erickson said the current flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, and the South is a preview for an all-too wet and dangerous spring. She expects flooding to get worse and widespread, reaching most of the eastern two-thirds of the nation.

Forecasters say the biggest risks include all three Mississippi River basins, plus the basins of the Red River of the North, the Great Lakes, the eastern Missouri River, the lower Ohio River, the lower Cumberland River and the Tennessee River.

Today: Partly cloudy. High 58. NW @ 10-15.

Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 30.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 56. NE @ 10.

Saturday: P/Cldy to Cloudy. High near 60.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy w/rain. High 53.

Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 57. Our Low was 29. Last year on this date our High was 52 and the Low was 32. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 88 in 1907. The Record Low was -7 in 1960.

The National Weather Service is warning that flooding in parts of South Dakota and northern Iowa could soon reach historic levels. Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Low said during a telephone briefing Wednesday that “major and perhaps historic” flooding is possible later this month at some spots on the Big Sioux and James rivers.

The service is projecting that the James River near Scotland, South Dakota, a town of about 800 residents, will reach a record 21.1 feet on Monday, shattering the old record of 20.5 feet set in 1984. The Big Sioux River in South Dakota and Iowa is expected to reach near-record levels in some places.

The worst of the flooding so far has been in Nebraska, southwestern Iowa and northwestern Missouri. Hundreds of residents have been displaced and well over 100 miles of levees in the three states have been breached or overtopped.