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Projected Flood Crest For St. Paul Scaled Back

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- The National Weather Service has been scaling back its projected crest for the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul.

The seven-day forecast as of Thursday shows the river reaching about 20 feet by next Thursday. That would still be St. Paul's seventh highest crest ever, but it's well below the record of 26.4 feet set in 1964, which officials last week said was a 50-50 possibility.

St. Paul leaders are asking the public to stay informed. Even though the risk is diminished, they say record flooding is still a possibility.

This week's storms and colder lower temperatures are making the job harder for river forecasters. They've delayed a broad flood update scheduled for Thursday until Friday so hydrologists can plug the latest precipitation and forecast data into their models.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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