Storm System To Bring Rain, Wind and River Levels Two Feet Above Flood Stage

NEBRASKA CITY - A National Weather Service hydrograph published Wednesday is projecting the Missouri River to rise two feet above flood stage at Nebraska City over the weekend.

Melting snowpack, recent precipitation and rainfall on Thursday are factors in the forecast.

Mike Crecelius of Fremont County Emergency Management said while today’s fog may keep temperatures from reaching highs earlier forecast, a trough from the West Coast will continue to move over the Central Plains and collide with warm, moist air.

The risk of severe weather is slight, but rain and wind gusts up to 45 mph are expected Thursday.

Snowfall is expected to remain north of Interstate 80.

Temperatures in the single digits are expected in northern Nebraska Friday and Saturday, but will gradually warm until Wednesday.

Gavins Point releases were decreased to 35,000 cfs this week as tributaries downstream rise due to melting snowpack.

Current conditions, including soil moisture, plains and mountain snowpack, as well as long-term temperature and precipitation outlooks forecast runoff to be 36.9 million acre-feet, 143 percent of average, for the upper Missouri River basin above Sioux City, Iowa for 2020, Average annual runoff for the upper basin is 25.8 MAF.

Current studies indicate that flow support for Missouri River navigation will be above full service levels for the first half of the 2020 season, which begins on April 1 at the mouth.

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Navigation

Full-service flow support is generally sufficient to provide a 9-foot-deep by 300-foot-wide channel. The actual service level will be based on the total volume of water stored in the System on March 15, in accordance with the guidelines in the Master Manual.

Flow support for the second half of the navigation season, as well as navigation season length, will be based on the actual July 1 System storage. Full-service navigation flow support is expected at the dates and locations shown below.

• Sioux City, Iowa: March 23
• Omaha, Nebraska: March 25
• Nebraska City, Nebraska: March 26
• Kansas CIty, Missouri: March 28
• Mouth near St. Louis, Missouri: April 1