Wind and rain were expected to hit Vicksburg this afternoon bringing gusts up to 40 mph and dropping temperatures before clearing out tonight.

Southwest winds of 25 to 30 mph were to accompany a 90 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with an inch to 2 inches of rain possible, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures were expected to drop tonight to about 40 degrees but shoot up to the upper 80s by Friday.

The Mississippi River was 42.4 feet at Vicksburg this morning, down three-tenths of a foot. Last Thursday’s crest at 43.3 feet was the third official flood here in the past four years. Flood stage at Vicksburg is 43 feet.

Drain valves at three locations along Vicksburg’s floodwall remain closed. Chickasaw, Long Lake, Laney Camp and Ziegler roads remain closed due to high water, as is the Kings Point Ferry, docked at the Port of Vicksburg at least until Wednesday or Thursday.

Work to remove a sunken bean barge from below Interstate 20 will resume Wednesday. Four barge strikes have been reported along the Lower Mississippi River since March 20, including two in Vicksburg and one at Natchez. All are under investigation by the Coast Guard.

Levels on the river side of the Steele Bayou Water Control Structure on Mississippi 465 fell three-tenths of a foot, to 90.3 feet, while the land side fell a tenth of a foot, to 85.5 feet.

Eagle Lake had reached 76.9 feet by this morning. Gates on the Muddy Bayou Control Structure, open since March 22, were expected to close today, said Tim Rogers, hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Control Division.