The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (LMRFC) released this update to document the low river stage conditions. The LMRFC provided the following text along with the attachment to supplement this updatethat details low water stage predictions from Cairo (IL) to Baton Rouge (LA).

“The highest stages in 2 months continue to move downstream on the lower Mississippi River while significant falls start again on the lower Ohio River.

On the lower Mississippi River, cresting conditions are near Greenville, MS this morning and rises will continue downstream over the next week. 

Falls are occurring on both the middle Mississippi and lower Ohio Rivers.  On the lower Ohio River, Cairo, IL had a stage reading of 10.9ft this morning.  It is forecast to fall several feet over the next couple of weeks and reach 6ft by late November.

The 7 day rainfall forecast has most of the rain over the lower Arkansas and lower Mississippi Valleys and it doesn’t appear to benefit the middle Mississippi or Ohio Valleys.

The 16 day rainfall forecast shows the lower Ohio River falling over the next couple of weeks.  The model shows some minor rises of 1 to 2 feet occuring by the end of November and low water conditions will continue through the first week of December.”

(Emphasis supplied)

The Carrolton Gage (New Orleans) reading at 1300 hours today was 2.71 feet with a 24-hour change of + 0.08 feet.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service Extended Streamflow Prediction (28-Day) for the Carrollton Gage issued today forecasts stages will continue a slow rise to 3.4 feet by November 16 and will begin a slow fall to 2.6 feet December 7 (2023). Long-range forecasts only include precipitation expected to fall in the next 48-hours.