Missouri River running high after heavy June rains
By Jared Shelton News-Press NOW meteorologist
The first month of meteorological summer is quickly coming to a close, and with only a few days remaining in June, local and regional trends in temperature and precipitation are coming into focus.
Aside from running hotter than normal across much of the U.S., including the Midwest and Central Plains, June has turned out to be wetter than normal for much of the heartland as well, especially in the mid-Missouri River valley.
In some ways, “wetter than normal” is an understatement for the volume of precipitation that’s fallen across parts of the Missouri River basin, including Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas. As of Thursday, June 27, Rosecrans Airport has counted just over 8 inches of rain since the month began. For context, that’s nearly twice the June average, which settles out around 4.75 inches.
Even more impressive is the relentless rainfall that’s pounded parts of the upper Midwest in recent weeks. Sections of lower Minnesota, eastern South Dakota and Northern Iowa have received 5 to 15-plus inches of rain over the past 10 days. Much of this rain came down over the course of 48 to 72 hours, overwhelming tributaries that feed into the Missouri River.
Scott Watson, lead service hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Kansas City, explained the magnitude of flooding upstream and its impact on water levels locally on a phone call early Thursday afternoon.
“They’ve had some widespread, major catastrophic flooding there on some of the smaller rivers that flow into the Missouri River. Now all that water is getting into the Missouri River and we’re rising above flood stage, first starting in Nebraska, Iowa, now across Northwest Missouri,” Watson said.
Moderate flooding is forecast along the Missouri River early next week, with a crest of 24.5 feet currently projected around Tuesday, July 2. Watson went on to further explain how this forecast is subject to change.
“Once you get above flood stage further north, the water starts spreading out in parts of the floodplain and that actually slows down the water, and makes it go a bit slower than what the model tries to forecast. So they have to make adjustments there. Another thing that can affect it would be levee overtopping, because you have water escaping the channel.”
High-impact flooding is not forecast along the local banks of the Missouri River, however, additional rainfall before the crest period could exacerbate the extent and duration of moderate flooding as excess runoff slowly drains through the basin.
