Weather.com - Karl Plume, 1/03/13
AP Photo/Belleville News-Democrat, Derik Holtmann
The towboat Wendy Ann moves past several empty barges anchored on the East St. Louis riverfront in St. Louis, Thursday afternoon, Dec. 27, 2012.
The drought-drained Mississippi River will rise slightly later this week between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois, but later continue its decline toward historic lows, according to a National Weather Service forecast.
Low water, due to the worst U.S. drought since 1956, has already impeded the flow of billions of dollars worth of grain, coal, fertilizer and other commodities between the central United States and shipping terminals at the Gulf of Mexico.
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