A flooded farm in Nebrask (AFP/Getty)

Record floods that submerged parts of three Midwestern states have started retreating, but more inclement weather continues to threaten Montana and the Dakotas for weeks to come.

Icy tributaries in those regions carry a risk of future flooding. High flood waters have already returned in the western Dakotas, northwest Nebraska and central and eastern Montana, along smaller rivers that feed into the Missouri.

Once the weather warms up, river ice breaks up into giant chunks, which float down the river stream and can cause a jam, which in turn induces flooding, David Roth, a meteorologist with the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, told Reuters on Monday.

“All that backed-up water is eventually going downstream,” Roth said. “It’ll come down the Missouri in a couple of weeks, and maybe hit Kansas City in mid-April.”

Midwest floods were unleashed last week after a “bomb cyclone” storm dumped torrential rains on hundreds of square miles of the snow-covered Plains.

'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York Show all 15 1 /15 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York A house in upstate New York has been completely encased in ice. AP 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York Standing on Ramona Beach on the south side of Lake Ontario, the property was hit by an ‘ice tsunami’, a phenomenon that occurs when strong winds blow blocks of ice from the water onto the shore. Maureen Morgan Whelan 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York The settled ice is around 4 feet thick and had to pass over a storm barrier to reach the house. Maureen Morgan Whelan 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York The house pictured when not covered in ice. Maureen Morgan Whelan 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York A satellite view shows the proximity of the house to Lake Ontario Google 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York The nearby town of Hamburg, NY was also hit by ice shoves. Town of Hamburg Emergency Services 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York Residents were issued a voluntary evacuation warning when conditions became dangerous Town of Hamburg Emergency Services 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York By the shore in Hamburg, NY Town of Hamburg Emergency Services 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York By the shore in Hamburg, NY Town of Hamburg Emergency Services 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York Fort Erie in Ontario was also affected by the adverse weather. Lake Erie neighbours Lake Ontario and the areas surrounding both have been victim to huge ice shoves AP 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York On the shore of Mather Park in Fort Erie, Ontario, February 25 AP 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York Niagara Falls, on the river between lakes Ontario and Erie recently partially froze over AFP/Getty 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York Horseshoe Falls in Niagara falls while partially frozen on January 31 AP 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York American Falls in Niagara Falls seen from Ontario, Canada while partially frozen on January 31 AP 'Ice Tsunami' encases house in New York American Falls in Niagara Falls seen from Ontario, Canada while partially frozen on January 31 AP

At least four people died as record flows cascaded down the Missouri, the country’s longest river. The floods also killed livestock, closed down dozens of roads, and caused property losses estimated at more than $3bn in Nebraska and Iowa.

Those flood waters crested near Kansas City on Sunday, the weather service said.

No further precipitation is forecast for the Midwest until midweek, when moderate rainfall is expected, NWS’s Andrew Orrison said on Sunday.

“I think at the worst what it will do is just prolong the gradual receding of the water levels across the various river basins throughout the Midwest,” he said.

The current flooding threatens Kansas City’s drinking water. More than 600,000 customers in the Kansas City metropolitan area were asked to conserve water as flood-levels in the Missouri River created “treatment challenges,” the city’s water utility said on Sunday.

Far up the nation’s longest river, floods loom again.

The Billings Gazette reported late on Sunday that rapid snow melt drove ice jams on the Little Bighorn River, forced the shutdown of a stretches of major highways in eastern Montanta all the way to the Wyoming border.

But the bigger threat is warmer temperatures that will hit the upper 60s in Billings by Tuesday and into midweek, driving more snowmelt that will eventually flow south, said meteorologist Roth.

“All that water is still headed downstream,” he said.

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Additional reporting by agencies