Lower Mississippi River Stage Forecast

 

Extended Forecast (28-days)

The National Weather Service's Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (LMRFC) creates a 28 day river forecast for the Lower Mississippi River twice a week, available in graphical form here.   These 28-day forecasts are updated on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.   A table with the forecast is also available here.  The table lists river gages by their identifiers, the sites and their identifiers are:

 

Site	Site Identifier
Cape Giradeau, Missouri	CPGM7
Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois	CIRI2
New Madrid, Missouri	NMDM7
Tiptonville, Tennessee	TPTT1
Caruthersville, Missouri	CRTM7
Osceola, Arkansas	OSGA4
Memphis, Tennessee	MEMT1
Tunica Riverpark, Mississippi	TRPM6
Helena, Arkansas	HEEA4
Arkansas City, Arkansas	ARSA4
Greenville, Mississippi	GEEM6
Vicksburg, Mississippi	VCKM6
Natchez, Mississippi	NTZM6
Red River Landing, Louisiana	RRLL1
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	BTRL1
Donaldsonville, Louisiana	DONL1
Reserve, Louisiana	RRVL1
New Orleans, Louisiana	NORL1

 It should be noted that the 28 day forecast only includes precipitation for the first 24 hours after the forecast is issued.  So if there are a couple days of rain after the forecast is issued, the river may be higher than forecasted.  These forecasts are giving an idea of what the river may do with out additional rain.

 

5 day Forecast for Mid-South

The National Weather Service in Memphis has an river forecast graphic (updated each day) with the morning river stage observation and the 5 day river forecast for Tiptonville, Tennessee; Caruthersville, Missouri; Osceola, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee, Tunica Riverpark, Mississippi; and Helena, Arkansas.   When the river is low the record low stages are shown.  (Note:  Tunica Riverpark gage was established in 2009, so there is no record low stage.)  The graphic is available at www.srh.noaa.gov/images/rtimages/meg/graphic/mainriverstages.png .

 

 

 

Historical Stages on Mississippi River

The Mississippi River in 1988 was low all along the Lower Mississippi River. The following table shows the lows for that summer at each site and if the record low was set that year the date is listed in the last column.

Site	Site Identifier	Low Stage in 1988	Date of Record Low, if set in 1988
Cape Giradeau, Missouri	CPGM7	4.70 ft
Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois	CIRI2	4.93 ft
New Madrid, Missouri	NMDM7	-1.50 ft
Tiptonville, Tennessee	TPTT1	-1.90 ft	07/13/1988
Caruthersville, Missouri	CRTM7	-0.10 ft
Osceola, Arkansas	OSGA4	-10.30 ft	07/11/1988
Memphis, Tennessee	MEMT1	-10.70 ft	07/10/1988
Tunica Riverpark, Mississippi	TRPM6	Readings only since 2009
Helena, Arkansas	HEEA4	-4.20 ft	07/11/1988
Arkansas City, Arkansas	ARSA4	-5.00 ft
Greenville, Mississippi	GEEM6	7.30 ft
Vicksburg, Mississippi	VCKM6	-1.60 ft
Natchez, Mississippi	NTZM6	2.60 ft
Red River Landing, Louisiana	RRLL1	10.10 ft
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	BTRL1	1.80 ft
Donaldsonville, Louisiana	DONL1	Unknown
Reserve, Louisiana	RRVL1	Unknown
New Orleans, Louisiana	NORL1	0.50 ft

Note: The Mississippi River channel between New Madrid, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, was modified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the flood of 1988 and these modification where completed in the 1990s. 

 

 

 

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