WHEELING — The Ohio River crested at about 32 feet Monday following more than an inch of rainfall on Sunday, according to Lee Hendricks of the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office.

Rivers and creeks in the area have not reached emergency levels due to the heavy rainfall, outlined Hendricks, but areas of the Ohio River have reached the action stage. This is the first of four NWS flood stages and marks minor nuisance flooding in the valley.

When the action stage is reached in a river, commercial river traffic must be “extra cautious,” explained Hendricks, due to high and fast water flow. Low-lying areas might also be affected by higher river levels, he added, but no manmade structures will flood.

A flood warning was enacted in Marshall and Ohio County in West Virginia as well as Belmont, Jefferson, Monroe and Brooke County in Ohio from approximately 11:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Sunday. The warning was put into place, according to Ohio County EMS Director Lou Vargo, due to runoff from streams and creeks.

The cold front that passed through late Sunday night was the cause of the rain, according to Hendricks, who added that the 1.1 to 1.3 inches of rainfall in the valley were “well above normal but nowhere near a record.”

Rainfall was spread throughout the valley, so no major road closures occurred on Sunday in Ohio County, according to Vargo.

Areas of Marshall County had water accumulation on roadways on Sunday due to storm drains becoming backed up, according to Marshall County EMS Director Josh Hart. Marshall County EMS is monitoring river levels in the area through Tuesday in coordination with the NWS.

On the forecast moving into the rest of the week, Hendricks outlined there may be “a brief flurry or a light sprinkle, but that’s about it.”

“Thankfully, we have a dry period coming up here, which might get us back close to near normal for rivers and streams in the area,” he added.

With Hendricks predicting a “dry weekend,” he expects Ohio River water levels to remain above normal until “at least Thursday.”

“Waters will remain high through Thursday then rivers and streams will drop back down to more near normal levels come the weekend,” he explained.

The forecast for the weekend is shaping up to be “reasonably nice,” Hendricks detailed, with a predicted high in the mid-30s for Saturday and Sunday.

A turn towards more snow is projected to occur “in about two weeks,” but Hendricks noted that since the prediction is so far out this could change.

“The weather will pretty much transition into drier conditions moving later into the week,” Hendricks said.