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 along with the attachment for today’s update that details low water stages from Cairo (IL) to Baton Rouge (LA).

“Scattered showers and thunderstorms continued over parts of the Ohio Valley and runoff has kept the stages on the lower Ohio River between 11 and 12ft over the past few days.

On the lower Ohio River, Cairo, IL is near 12ft this morning and is expected to slowly rise over the next couple of days.  The stages on the lower Ohio River continue to be well below normal and near 2012 levels. 

One to three inches of rainfall is expected over the middle Mississippi and Ohio Valleys during the next week.  Right now, we are not seeing significant runoff since soil moisture conditions are dry for the time of year.

The 16 day future rainfall model is showing slightly higher stages (0.5 to 1.0ft) compared to the official forecast.  Cairo, IL is projected to go below 10ft for early July and near 7.5ft by the third week of July.

The Carrolton Gage (New Orleans) reading at 1100 hours today was 2.89 feet with a 24-hour change of + 0.05 feet. The stages on the Carrollton Gage are predicted to continue a steady fall to 1.8 feet on

July 26, 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 highest crest in 2023 on the Carrollton Gage was recorded at 2400 hours on April 13, 2023 with 14.10 feet.