CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., May 20 (UPI) -- Water levels on the Mississippi River fell Monday after cresting more than 13 feet over its banks, but water levels were expected to remain above flood stage in this river town for much of the week.
Missouri Department of Transportation highway crews were prepared to begin removing sandbag barriers as the river retreated. The city's floodgates remained closed.
The Mississippi reached 45.7 feet Sunday night, just 2.8 feet below the record 48.5-foot crest recorded nine years ago.
Several streets in Dutchtown, Mo., that were covered by muddy water Saturday were dry on Monday and officials said temporary levees on state highways 25 and 74 would be removed within days. County officials planned to use the gravel to shore up roads.
"In '95 all of it went to the road to Allenville to build it up," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Area Commander Gary Moody told the Southeast Missourian.
The Coast Guard said no barge or boat restrictions were anticipated on the Lower Mississippi south of St. Louis because the river widens as it flows to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Illinois River, which is closed to boat traffic, receded in Peoria, Ill. during the weekend and a storm front was followed by dry weather with unseasonably cold temperatures in the 30s. The river was predicted to crest in Beardstown, Ill., late Tuesday or Wednesday at 29.5 feet -- 15.4 feet above flood stage.
Flood warnings remained in effect for the White and Wabash rivers in southeast Illinois and southwest Indiana for the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the mercury dropped to a chilly 37 degrees in Detroit at 3 a.m. EST and was 39 in Chicago, where the high of 51 was 20 degrees cooler than the normal high temperature for late-May. Frost was likely Tuesday morning.
In California, a cold storm brought rare May showers to the Los Angeles area and heavy rain in Northern California.
Two possible tornadoes were indicated by radar near Woodland on Monday, the National Weather Service warned. Woodland is about 25 miles west of Sacramento.
Forecasters said snow was falling as low as 2,800 feet in some parts of the Sierra Nevada. Total snow accumulations of 6 inches to 10 inches are possible above 6,000 feet.
The California Highway Patrol said travelers planning to travel in the mountains of northeast California should be prepared for winter driving conditions and possible delays.
The cool and showery weather was expected to linger on into Tuesday, as the weather system moves east, forecasters said.
The rain, however, brought some good news to Southern California where the fire danger was already at high levels after a very dry winter. It also meant dozens of accidents that snarled traffic on the region's busy freeways.
