Upper Mississippi River Stages 28 Day Forecast (2024)

FAQs

Has the Mississippi River level improved? ›

Mississippi River levels have improved, but concerns linger - Brownfield Ag News. A Midwest representative for the Waterways Council says Mississippi River levels have improved greatly over the winter but continued moisture will be needed to maintain those levels.

Historical Crests:

661.60 ft on 04/11/1997. 661.37 ft on 04/19/1969. 660.51 ft on 04/26/2023.

The drought that plagued the Mississippi River basin since 2022 and resulted in ag shipment delays and higher transportation costs is officially over.

At the headwaters of the Mississippi, the average surface speed of the water is about 1.2 miles per hour - roughly one-half as fast as people walk. At New Orleans the river flows at about three miles per hour.

On September 26, 2023, the river level at a gauge in Memphis was -10.26 feet, close to the record low level, -10.81 feet, measured at the same place on October 21, 2022. That was the lowest level recorded there since the start of National Weather Service records in 1954.

Between where the Missouri River joins the Mississippi at Saint Louis, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, the depth averages 30 feet (9 m). Below Cairo, where the Ohio River joins, the depth averages 50–100 feet (15–30 m) deep. The deepest part of the river is in New Orleans, where it reaches 200 feet (61 m) deep.

The deepest river is the Hudson River. At some points, it is 200 feet deep.

In what year was the worst flood of the Mississippi River? ›

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive flood in United States history. This flood extended across Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. At one point the river was approximately 80 miles wide near Vicksburg, MS.

Fun fact: the deepest point in the entire river is in New Orleans near Algiers Point, where it dips to about 200 feet. Because salt water is heavier and denser than fresh water, the salt water moves along the river bottom first, creating a wedge shape.

The best time to cruise the Lower Mississippi is in the spring from April to mid-June, the fall, or the holiday season, September through December, when the temperatures are mild, and humidity is lower than in the summer months.

Pay no attention to your condescending friends and relatives unlucky enough to live in northern climes. They might snicker at our shivering, but by New Orleans standards, it's cold outside. It's really cold.

The Mississippi River and its tributaries carry excessively high levels of nutrients that cause a biological dead zone to form at the river mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. This dead zone is referred to as hypoxia, which means very low oxygen in the water.

Stretches of the Mississippi River within the park corridor exceed water quality standards for mercury, bacteria, sediment, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl), and nutrients. Unfortunately, these "impairments" can make the water unsuitable for fishing, swimming, and drinking.