Saturday, September 1, 2012

Isaac remnants dumping heavy rain across Missouri, Illinois

Reuters: The remnants of Hurricane Isaac were grinding slowing northward early on Saturday with its center now deep into Missouri and the heavy rain stretching for hundreds of miles east into Illinois amid reports of tornadoes and high winds, meteorologists said.

Reuters: Drought-stricken areas of Missouri and Illinois were easily absorbing the rain Friday and the system was expected to soak the region deep into Sunday, said Jayson Gosselin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's St. Louis-area office.

"We have gotten pretty widespread light to moderate rain that has piled up," Gosselin said. "The rain is certainly going to help our drought situation up here."

Most places in the area were reporting 1 to 3 inches of rain by late on Friday and were expected to see up to 5 inches of rain through Sunday, though some might see "upwards of 5, 6, 7 inches," Gosselin said. A wide swath of central Illinois from west to east was expected to receive similar amounts of rain as the system slowly passes through the state, the weather service said.

The weather service received reports of two tornadoes in Illinois and one in Missouri on Friday that caused what looked like fairly minor damage, Gosselin said. Two possible storm tracks will probably be surveyed on Saturday, he said.

The rain has been fairly consistent, and due to drought conditions and low river levels there have not been any reports of flash flooding or river flooding so far in the area, he said….

Isaac on August 30, 2012

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