The level of the Missouri River at St. Joseph has dropped out of the major flood stage.
The National Weather Service reports the river at St. Joseph at 26.8 feet at 7:30am as the crest flows downstream, to central Missouri.
The Weather Service considers the Missouri River at St. Joseph to enter major flood stage when the crest tops 27 feet. The crest reached an unofficial record Friday, when it nudged above the crest of 32.1 feet set in the 1993 flood. Moderate flood stage is between a crest of 21 feet to 27 feet.
Click here for the latest on the Missouri River from NWS.
It’s going to be a nice couple of days before the threat of rain returns Thursday and Friday. Expect temperatures to warm nicely with the help of gusty south winds Wednesday. However, those same winds will also bring some Gulf moisture north, making showers and thunderstorms likely for Thursday and Friday. This will result in additional flooding issues along the Missouri River by this weekend. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 59. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 45. South southeast wind around 8 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Breezy, with a south wind 9 to 14 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. South southwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Thursday: A chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m. High near 67. South southwest wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Thursday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 49. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday: Showers. High near 58. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Friday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 1 a.m., then a chance of showers. Low around 36. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 43.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 25.
Water releases from Gavins Point Dam are being increased as the Missouri River recedes.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had increased releases from Gavins Point to 90,000 cubic feet per second around the middle of the month to relieve flooding pressure from Nebraska, raising the level of the Missouri River downstream. It began gradually reducing releases as flooding concerns eased in Nebraska, but never reduced the releases to the 20,000 mark the Corps had set for itself.
Releases from Gavins Point have been at 24,000 cfs since March 20th.
The Corps this weekend announced it would increase releases to 27,000 cfs.
The Corps reports the mountain snowpack remains average and the plains snow melt in the upper basin of the Missouri River is beginning.
“We are beginning to see the plains snow melt in the upper basin with runoff into all of the upper storage reservoirs. We are monitoring these conditions and while there will at times be a rapid rise in pool elevations, we have 14.4 maf or 88 percent of the flood storage capacity available to capture runoff,” John Remus, chief of the Corps’ Missouri River Water Management Division, said in a written statement released by the Corps.
An updated basin runoff forecast will be released on April 1, according to the Corps.
Missouri State Emergency Management Agency photo of northwest Missouri flooding.
Even as the Missouri River recedes from historic to near-historic levels, forecasters at the National Weather Service worry about future flooding.
Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Low with the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center in Pleasant Hill is keeping an eye on larger than normal snowmelt in the northern Missouri basin.
“As I’ve been stating the past couple of days, we do expect renewed flooding along the Missouri River downstream of Gavins Point due to snowmelt inflows from the Big Sioux, the Vermillion, and the James (Rivers),” Low says during a conference call hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Low expects minor flooding between Omaha and Brownville, Nebraska in early April due to excess northern snowmelt. He expects Rulo, Nebraska and St. Joseph to remain in at least minor flood stage through the beginning of April.
The National Weather Service reports the Missouri River at St. Joseph dropped to 27.95 feet by 7:30 this morning. NWS projects the river will drop out of major flood stage this evening, reaching 26.9 feet by around 7 o’clock.
Low expects larger than normal snowmelt to raise the level of those three northern Missouri basin rivers to record heights. Whether that will translate to record crests on the Missouri downstream is hard to predict.
What isn’t hard to predict, according to Low, is that there will be more flooding.
“I just want to let folks know that we’re not over with the flood season, yet, and these projections for what the Big Sioux and the James will do at the end of the month do not include any rainfall that might occur between now and then,” Low says. “It just includes the snowmelt.”
Low says that is the unknown in all of this is: how much rain the area will receive this spring.
“I believe that the public should be very concerned about the mainstem below Gavins Point for the next month, at least,” according to Low.
Snowmelt had been proceeding rapidly until temperatures dropped up north, slowing the rate of melting.
Today will start out cloudy and cool before warming up into the lower 50s with a few peaks of sunshine in the afternoon. Temperatures will start to climb Tuesday and really get going on Wednesday with a high of 70°F possible over western Missouri and upper 60s over central Missouri. The warmer temperatures will continue into Thursday, but the chance of rain will start to increase, especially over northern Missouri. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. North northeast wind 8 to 11 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. South southeast wind around 6 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. South southeast wind around 8 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Breezy, with a south wind 9 to 14 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.
Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Thursday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Friday: Showers. High near 59. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Friday Night: Showers. Low around 38. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Saturday: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 30.
Levels on the Missouri River continue to go down and area residents are returning to their homes.
The National Weather Service reports the level on the Missouri River has receded to 29.58 feet at St. Joseph at 7am, after reaching what could be a record crest. Preliminary indications are the Missouri River edged just above the record crest of 32.1 feet Friday before beginning its steady decline. NWS expects the Missouri to drop below the major flood stage Monday evening, when the river is projected to drop to 26.6 feet.
An evacuation order issued by the city of St. Joseph and Buchanan County for residents protected by the L-455 levee was lifted earlier. The levee protects the southern part of the city, including Lake Contrary.
A notice issued by the St. Joseph Police Department indicates now the only streets closed due to flooding are Stockyards, Cedar and Waterworks.
Elwood, Kansas residents are being allowed to return home after a voluntary evacuation order virtually emptied the city and closed businesses there.
Sandbagging operations continue in Elwood, Kansas near the Missouri River.
All eyes are on the Missouri right now, especially in Kansas.
Elwood, Kansas, just across the Missouri River from St. Joseph, has evacuated as the Missouri rises to nearly record levels. The National Weather Service reports the Missouri at 32.01 at 2:30pm Friday, just shy of the record crest of 32.1 feet reached in 1993. NWS expects the level of the Missouri River at St. Joseph to begin to lower this evening, projecting it to keep dropping and leave the major flood stage by Sunday morning.
Officials called for the evacuation of Elwood when the river reached 30 feet.
Doniphan County, Kansas Emergency Management spokesman Rick Howell says Elwood residents cooperated when asked to leave their town.
“You’re talking about a town that for generations has lived with the Missouri River, so they’ve seen this type of thing through the years,” Howell says. “So, when local officials start to talk about evacuation for precautionary steps and protection of life and property, these local residents take that seriously.”
Members of the nearby 139th Airlift Wing at Rosecrans Airport are helping sandbag operations to fortify the levee which protects Elwood.
The 139th Vice Commander, Col. John Cluck, says high priority equipment has been moved from nearby Rosecrans Memorial Airport. Its command center is now located across the river in St. Joseph. The C-130 planes have been flown to Topeka, Kansas.
Cluck says the 139th feels confident the levee will hold.
“She’s a strong old girl and she’s holding tight,” Cluck says. “So, we’re helping her. We are continuing to stack sandbags on top of it to give us some more depth. We have water on sandbags, but that’s okay, that’s why we put them there.”
Sandbagging will continue until the river recedes enough to be deemed no longer a threat to Elwood.
High water from the crest of the Missouri River has triggered evacuation orders for parts of St. Joseph.
City officials in Elwood, Kansas, across the river, already issued evacuation orders after the Missouri reached 30 feet last night. It currently stands at 32.02 feet, just below the record crest reached at St. Joseph in 1993.
A levee breach sent floodwaters over Highway 59 in southern Buchanan County, closing the highway from Rushville to Atchison, including the Amelia Earhart Bridge.
St. Joseph police report Kirschner Addition, located north of Alabama, is now under mandatory evacuation.
The City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County issued a voluntary evacuation of areas behind the L-455 levee system on the Missouri side. St. Joseph police says there is an additional two feet of levee height protecting the area, but the voluntary evacuation was issued in an abundance of caution.
The area behind the L-455 levee unit includes nearly all areas west of Lake Avenue/U.S. 59 Highway, between Contrary Creek on the south and Atchison Street on the north.
Stockyards Expressway will remain closed until further notice due to flooding. A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for Kirshner Addition north of Alabama Street. Alabama from King Hill Ave to Lake Ave is open. Alabama from Lake Ave to Lake Contrary is closed.
The animal shelter opening at Hyde Park has been postponed until the animals from the Lake Avenue Shelter can be moved there.
An evacuation shelter has been set up at the Keys Church, located at 6002 South 9th Street. An animal shelter has been established at Hyde Park, located at 899 E. Hyde Park.
Expect ongoing moderate to major river flooding to continue for the next several days. No precipitation is anticipated today, however, rain chances increase this weekend. Saturday late morning showers will spread west to east across eastern Kansas and Missouri during the day. Off and on rain showers will continue with a chance of thunderstorms through noon on Sunday. Overall we are expected around 0.25” of precipitation with higher totals near 0.50” over NW Missouri. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 62. Light and variable wind becoming east northeast around 6 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37. East wind 6 to 8 mph.
Saturday: Showers likely, mainly after 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. East southeast wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: Showers likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 a.m. Low around 47. East southeast wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 a.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. High near 60. South wind 8 to 10 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41.
Wednesday: A chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Wednesday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Thursday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Gov. Mike Parson meets with Air Guard officials after his helicopter tour of northwest Missouri flooding.
Gov. Mike Parson returns to northwest Missouri for another flyover of widespread flooding from the Iowa border to south of St. Joseph.
Parson has issued an emergency declaration, the first step in requesting a federal disaster declaration for the region.
“Our number one priority is to keep people safe and to protect the property that is out there and to continue to keep people safe and monitor the situation,” Parson tells reporters during a news conference at Rosecrans Memorial Airport.
Parson says the total damage done by the flooding is unknown at this time. He says an assessment will be done when the waters recede so a disaster assistance request can be made to the federal government.
Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn has surveyed the damage along with the governor during a helicopter tour from the border of Iowa to south of St. Joseph.
Missouri Agriculture Dir. Chris Chinn speaks during a news conference at Rosecrans Memorial Airport.
Chinn says no one can tell the extent of the damage done to farmland.
“Right now, it’s too early to asses the damage,” Chinn tells reporters. “We have to wait for the water to recede. However, the Missouri FSA office is going to be prepared and ready when that time comes to start accessing the damage.”
Then, Chinn says the state will put in a request for federal assistance to the USDA.
“So, until the water recedes, right now it’s going to be too early for us to tell what the damage is going to be, but we are ready and prepared to help our farmers in the weeks and days ahead to make sure that we are there to give them everything that they need,” according to Chinn.
The widespread flooding in northwest Missouri is rekindling a long-simmering dispute between the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Gov. Parson says he has not spoken to Army Corps of Engineers officials, yet.
But, the governor says the Corps needs to re-prioritize to put the safety of people and their property first.
“When you’re affecting states like Nebraska, like Iowa, and Missouri all at the same time, we need to re-evaluate what our priorities are for the Corps of Engineers,” Parson says.
The governor says he plans to meet with the Corps.
“I think there’s a long history with the state not being really happy with the Corps of Engineers, how they conduct this thing, how they’re doing these levees, and how they’re actually using the waterways in our state. So, it’s a concern.”
Parson says he saw much more destruction in his second flyover of flooded northwest Missouri.
The level of the Missouri River at St. Joseph has dropped out of the major flood stage.
Levels on the Missouri River continue to go down and area residents are returning to their homes.
High water from the crest of the Missouri River has triggered evacuation orders for parts of St. Joseph.
