The National Weather Service is forecasting more rain for Vernon County and other portions of Missouri, with an increasing chance of thunderstorms on Wednesday and early Thursday, with another chance for thunderstorms on Thursday night, which could lead to a few areas of heavy rainfall and localized flooding.

Meanwhile, people in Arkansas are preparing for some of the worst flooding in the state while Missourians continue to struggle with destruction caused by high water. A University of Missouri climatologist says an unusual three-day rainfall event is to blame for the major Midwest flooding. Six to 13 inches of rain fell over a large part of southern Missouri, especially southeast of the I-44 corridor, between March 17 and 19 bringing some rivers to levels not seen since floods in 1982 and 1993.

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"Adding insult to injury were the pre-existing conditions," said Pat Guinan, assistant professor of climatology in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and an MU Extension climatologist with the Commercial Agriculture Program. "Saturated conditions were already in place when the rain started. Immediately the rain translated into run-off and we saw rises in rivers and streams to unprecedented levels in some cases. The extensive flooding was not the only problem, but the flash flooding was actually historical in areas like Cape Girardeau where more than a foot of rain fell in less than a 48-hour period. Several counties received more than seven inches of rain in a 24-hour period which translated to a one in 100 year event. Some will only see something like this once in a lifetime."

Missouri has experienced four consecutive months of above normal precipitation and the past four months will rank as one of the wettest December-through-March periods for the state in decades, Guinan said. According to the National Weather Service spring flood outlook, an above-normal flood potential will exist for all of Missouri through the spring season.