The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (LMRFC) released the update below on river stage conditions (today). The LMRFC provided the following text with no attachment for today’s update.

“Scattered showers and thunderstorms have occurred over parts of the Ohio Valley and stages have been steady on the lower Ohio River during the past week. 

Cairo, IL on the lower Ohio River is near 12.0ft today and it is expected to fluctuate between 11 and 12ft over the next several days.

During the next week, one to two inches of rainfall is expected over parts of the Tennessee Valley and middle to upper reaches of the Ohio Valley.  

The 16 day future rainfall model is showing a minor rise of 1 foot at Cairo, IL for early next week and then falls through the middle of July. The guidance is showing Cairo, IL reaching 10ft for the second week of July and near 9ft by the middle of July.” (Emphasis supplied)

The Carrolton Gage (New Orleans) reading at 1200 hours today was 3.27 feet with a 24-hour change of – 0.21 feet. The stages on the Carrollton Gage are predicted to continue a steady fall to 2.2 feet on

July 19, 2023. Low water pattern expected to continue barring major precipitation events that will be recorded in future updates, concerns of low water conditions continue.

The graphs below are the latest 2 and 16 Day river stage forecasts for Cairo (IL) and New Orleans (LA) as reproduced from NOAA’s National Weather Service website (today). Both projections indicate steady slow falls.

The highest crest in 2023 on the Carrollton Gage was recorded at 2400 hours on April 13, 2023 with 14.10 feet.