The National Weather Service has lowered projected Ohio River crest levels, leading Paducah officials to cancel preparations to install the city’s floodgates.
An NWS Paducah meteorologist says the levels are lower than previously forecast because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began reducing water flow through the Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake dams earlier this week. The Ohio’s crest level has been lowered over the week from a projected 49 feet to 45.5 feet in Paducah and from 59 to 56.5 feet in Cairo, Illinois. The river is forecast to crest late this weekend and early next week.