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 that details low water stage predictions from Cairo (IL) to Baton Rouge (LA). 

“No big changes from last week’s update.  

On the lower Mississippi River, cresting conditions have made it past Natchez, MS and all locations should peak over the next several days.

Falls continue on the lower Ohio River and Cairo, IL had a stage of 9.2ft this morning.  It will continue to fall several more feet and reach 6.0ft by the end of the month.

The 7day rainfall forecast continues to show 2 to 4 inches of rainfall along the Gulf Coast which will not help the low water conditions on the Mississippi River.  The upper Ohio Valley is showing .25 to 1 inch of rainfall this weekend.  The lower Missouri and middle Mississippi Valleys are showing .25 to .50 inches of rainfall for late this weekend.

The 16 day rainfall forecast continues to show falls on the lower Ohio River during the next couple of weeks and then minor rises of 1 to 2 feet from late November into early December.” (Emphasis supplied)

The Carrolton Gage (New Orleans) reading at 1100 hours today was 2.41 feet with a 24-hour change of + 0.11 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 remain near 3.0 feet over the next week and will then begin a very slow fall to 2.2 feet December 11 (2023). Long-range forecasts only include precipitation expected to fall in the next 48-hours.