The 50.5-foot forecast crest for the Mississippi River at Vicksburg is expected to remain, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Jackson said Thursday.

The Mississippi’s level was at 47.21 feet Thursday afternoon in Vicksburg. Flood stage is 43 feet.

“It takes a lot of rain to change that forecast, and this weekend we’re expecting 1 to 2 inches of rain; we would probably need about 4 inches or so to really make a difference,” meteorologist Ann Wolverton said.

She said the predicted weekend rains are expected to fall south of the Memphis, Tennessee, area in the Arkansas and Mississippi deltas.

“Now it may change the rate of rise (in the Mississippi); it could increase the flow over a small time frame,” she said, adding the weekend rains will be included in the 48-hour river forecast released Friday by the Weather Service.

The forecast for the Warren County area calls for showers and thunderstorms Saturday, with 1.5 to 2 inches of rain expected.

Greg Raimondo, chief of public affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District, said projections for the Steele Bayou with the weekend rain put its landside level at between 94 to 95 feet. The landside level of Steele Bayou was 92.46 feet Thursday afternoon.

The river’s expansion was visible in Ford Subdivision, where floodwaters covered Williams and Ford streets, forcing city officials to block off the road at Eva Street, which was the only dry area in Ford Subdivision. Fish were seen hitting the surface of the water around one home on Williams Street.

Downtown, city Sewer Department employees were continuing to install the Levee Street floodwall, closing off Levee Street at Grove Street, requiring city officials to reroute truck traffic serving local businesses and industry in town, and sending trucks heading to the Port of Vicksburg on U.S. 61 North.