Mississippi River at 34 feet - looking south from Mud Island
Last month, I did a post on the Mississippi River hitting flood stage at Memphis but it looks like this spring’s conditions could bring us the highest water we will see during our lifetimes. According to the National Weather Service, we could see the highest water since 1997, by the end of the week as the river stage crosses the 40 foot mark.
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Mississippi River has risen over Arkansas bank
In January I wrote a Quick Guide to Mississippi River Conditions. I noticed in the Weather Service’s river stage RSS feed that the Mississippi River at Memphis is right at flood stage, +34 feet on the Memphis guage; 34.3 feet, to be more precise. Looking west from Downtown Memphis, you can understand why they call it flood stage. the Arkansas flood plane is covered all the way to the levees, and the river seems miles wide. This is not the highest level the river can reach. The record flood level was 48.7 feet during the Great Flood of 1937, over 14 feet higher than today’s stage.
Flood plain on Arkansas side of the River from Memphis
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