Nebraska dealing with record river flooding

Eastern Nebraska continues to deal with record-breaking river flooding this weekend due to rapid snow melt, ice jams and last week’s rainfall.

The flooding has caused parts of highways, including some bridges, to be washed away, isolating some communities.

The scale of the devastation near Niobrara, Nebraska, is unprecedented as the swollen Niobrara River washed away a dam.

The Platte River, near Louisville, Nebraska, has crested, breaking a record that stood since 1960. The Platte River, near Ashland, broke its record from 1997, and the Elkhorn River, near Waterloo, swelled over 17 feet in the last five days to break a record from 1962 on Saturday.

There are several other rivers in parts of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin that have risen into flood stage, including rivers near Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Rockford, Illinois.

There are widespread flood alerts in the Central Plains and Midwest for river flooding. The good news is there is no notable precipitation coming to the region through the week.

High pressure remains firmly in control over much of the U.S. this weekend and will persist for a couple more days. Storms traversing the Pacific will be forced into southern Canada until the high pressure systems dominating the West finally ease up.

The result of this is fairly mild weather across much of the country, including a good deal of sunshine.

Much of the West will see a gradual increase in temperatures the next few days, with some of the most comfortable weather in months for the region.

It looks like the high pressure will begin to ease around midweek, which would allow the next storm to move onto the West Coast, and eventually bring some effects to the central and eastern U.S.