Swollen Cedar River Falling In Cedar Falls, Waterloo (Gallery)

The swollen Cedar River is starting to go down in Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Now, the Cedar Valley may get a chance to dry out.

Weather forecasters say the region should get at least a 48-hour break from rain, following several recent days of thunderstorms. That is good news for people dealing with high water along the Cedar River, which crested in both cities Sunday evening (June 22, 2014) at levels higher than initially projected.

The National Weather Service (NWS) says the river level at Cedar Falls reached the sixth-highest stage on record, cresting at 94.6 feet or 6.6 feet above the 88-foot flood stage. The original forecast projected a crest of about four feet over flood stage.

A flood warning remains posted for the Cedar River at Cedar Falls through early Thursday, extending from the West Fork of the Cedar near Finchford to the Waterloo border. Major flooding continues in parts of the city, even though the river is slowing going down.

At Waterloo, the Cedar River also reached a level higher than initially projected. At 9 p.m. Sunday, the river stage was 18.3 feet or 5.3 feet above the 13-foot flood stage. Minor flooding was still occurring along the falling river, which rose about two feet higher than originally forecast.

The NWS says the river should continue receding at Waterloo and go below flood stage early Tuesday morning. The flood warning at Waterloo extends from the Cedar Falls border south to Spring Creek near La Porte City until early Tuesday afternoon.

A midday thunderstorm rolled across the Cedar Valley on Sunday, causing scattered power outages and knocking out some traffic signals in Waterloo. The weather system briefly dumped more heavy rain on the saturated soil, increasing the concern for additional flooding around the area.

Dry weather, though, is predicted for the next 48 hours. Local forecasters say Monday and Tuesday will be partly cloudy with no rain, which should give the Cedar Valley some time to dry out. The extended forecast, however, calls for a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms each day the rest of this week.