There's been no change in the 48.5-foot record flood crest that's expected to pass Cape Girardeau on Thursday. And the good news is no heavy rains are forecast for the next 6-10 days over the Midwest, which has been deluged with heavy rainfall nearly every week for the past three months.

But more bad news is that even if it does not rain another drop north of here after today, the Mississippi River will remain above flood stage at Cape Girardeau through late August, according to the National Weather Service.

That means the slowly receding floodwaters will remain on the already water-logged and weakened earthen levees in the area, many of which have had water on them for over 100 days.

On Thursday, the river at Cape rose two-tenths of a foot, to 45.9 feet. It was forecast to remain stationary at 45.9 today, then rise to 46.1 on Saturday, and 46.4 feet. on Sunday.

At St. Louis, the river is forecast to crest Tuesday, at 48 feet. At Chester, the river is expected to crest at 48 feet on Wednesday.

Even when the crest finally passes Cape Girardeau, the weather service warns the river will fall very slowly, assuming there is no additional, significant precipitation north of St. Louis after July 29.

According to the weather service's 30-day river outlook, the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau is expected to drop to 48.4 feet by late next week; then fall to 44.4 feet by Aug. 11, and down to 35.2 feet by Aug. 18.

The river at Cape Girardeau is not expected to drop below flood stage until around Aug. 25, when it falls to 31.5 feet.

At St. Louis, the river will remain above flood stage (30 feet) through Aug. 25. At Chester, the river is forecast to drop to 31.5 feet by the same date.