A forecast update provided by our colleagues from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (LMRFC) is here. Highlights from today’s update specific to the areas along the Mississippi River Ship Channel are reproduced below (listed in bold):

Another round of rainfall occurred over the Tennessee and Lower Mississippi Valleys during the past couple of days.  A cold front has swept through the area and no significant rainfall is forecast for the next week.  

On the lower Mississippi River above the junction with the Arkansas River, minor flooding continues from New Madrid, MO to Osceola, AR and at Mhoon Landing, MS.  Rises of 1 foot will occur over the next 7 days as routed water from the lower Ohio River continues to work downstream.

On the lower Mississippi River below the junction with the Arkansas River, Arkansas City, AR has crested and Greenville, MS is near crest now.  Rises of ½ to 1 foot are expected over the next 5 days.  Moderate flooding will continue at Natchez, MS and Red River Landing, LA will crest right at the moderate flood level of 55.0ft on Sunday.  Minor flooding will continue from Arkansas City, AR to Vicksburg, MS and at Baton Rouge, LA.   All locations should be crested by early next week and routed water from the lower Ohio River will keep stages elevated through most of April.

The 16 day future rainfall model continues to show the same crests as the official forecast on the lower Ohio and lower Mississippi Rivers.

The Carrollton Gauge at New Orleans is predicted to continue a slow rise until cresting at 14.50 feet on Monday, April 5, 2021 and to then begin a slow fall to 11.1 feet on April 29, 2021.