Mississippi River water levels continue to drop. Could they approach records?

Joshua Williams, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·2 min read
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The Mississippi River is approaching record low water levels in Vicksburg and Natchez amid a drought in the upper and middle Mississippi River region, according to the National Weather Service.

The river level at Vicksburg was 1.29 feet at noon Wednesday but is projected to fall to lower levels throughout the week, according to the NWS.

The Mississippi River level at Natchez was 10.93 feet at noon Wednesday but is projected to fall to approximately 10.4 feet by the end of the week, NWS officials said.

The baseline for measuring the river is sea level.

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Low water along the river endangers barge traffic for one of the key shipping arteries in the nation.

Historic lows for the Mississippi River at Vicksburg are -7 feet on Feb. 3, 1940; -6.8 feet on Nov. 1, 1939; and -5.8 feet on Jan. 6, 1964, according to the NWS.

Historic lows for the Mississippi River at Natchez are -1.70 feet on Feb. 3, 1940; -1 feet on Sept. 2, 1936; and -.09 feet on Nov. 27, 1953, according to the NWS.

Marty Pope, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jackson, said the drought began in the Missouri River and the upper and middle Mississippi River.

"Most of the lower Mississippi River water droughts come from lack of water on the Ohio River Valley as well as in Missouri in the Upper Mississippi Valley," Pope said.

The river levels could possibly get as low as the levels in 2012 which were 7.66 feet at Natchez and -1.07 feet at Vicksburg in early August of 2012, Pope said.

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Officials said until decent rain falls across the valley, the water levels will get worse based on a 10-day weather forecast.

Allan Payne, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said without any rain the river levels are expected to drop tremendously downstream.

"Currently, what we've seen upstream across the Mississippi and upper Mississippi River Valleys is there's no beneficial rain that will come in the near future to level out the river," Payne said.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Is the Mississippi River drying up? Here's a look at the new levels