MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In the last 2 Summers here in the Mid-South it has become common for river levels to run extremely low. There is some hope that this year could be a bit different and current trends are looking at least a bit more positive than years past.
2022 and 2023 both set the record for lowest river levels along the Mississippi River in Memphis. These low waters create problems for barge traffic and can even cause larger issues like threatening water supplies in Louisiana. This year, rainfall has kept the river near normal levels in Memphis so far.
While rainfall looks to be normal for the next few weeks, extreme rainfall to the north will set the stage for the river to rise in the coming weeks. This alone is not significant but, this does mark the first time in two years that the Mississippi will not be below the low water mark and will be above 0 feet going this far into the Summer.
Major flooding is ongoing in the Midwest and while this is of course causing plenty of issues upstream, this water will eventually make its way towards the Mid-South. A crest of around 11 feet is expected heading into the middle of July.
This is important because this puts the river right around average leading into what is looking to be a drier pattern setting up next month. While we cannot rule out extremely low waters once again as we get further in the Summer months, this trend will at least push things back a few weeks if not longer if dry weather stretches into late July.