The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (LMRFC) released the update below on river stage conditions (today). There were no attachments to today’s update.

“No attachments today and no changes from last week’s update.

Snowmelt flooding continues to move downstream on the Mississippi River.  Peak levels should approach St. Louis, MO this weekend and should reach the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers by the middle of next week.

No snowmelt flooding is expected on the lower Ohio and lower Mississippi Rivers since the channel capacity is much larger.

The 16 day future rainfall forecast continues to show the lower Ohio River rising through the middle of next week from a combination of rainfall and snowmelt.  Cairo, IL is expected to crest under 30ft and well below flood levels.

The non-flood crests should continue downstream and not reach New Orleans, LA until the third week of May.” (Emphasis supplied 

The Carrolton Gage (New Orleans) reading at 1400 hours today was 7.45 feet with a 24-hour change of – 0.07 feet. The stages at the Carrollton Gage are predicted to remain near 7.0 feet over the next week and to then begin a slow fall to
6.9 feet on May 31, 2023.

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). Cairo shows the crest referenced above and then a steady fall while New Orleans will remain steady for a week or so near 7.0 feet and then to being a slow rise near 8.0 feet and then begin another slow fall.

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