Please note the attached river crest forecast issued by the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center issued on 4/8/25. 

We made updates today with the Cairo forecast that prompted sending an updated briefing package out today. Some flow reductions on the Lower Ohio with the cuts at Barkley and Kentucky are bringing the crest at Cairo down to 52.5 ft on the 9th. Crests downriver to Caruthersville, MO were also lowered by 1.5 ft. Crests from Osceola, AR to Helena were lowered by 1.0 ft and from Arkansas City to Donaldsonville by 0.5 ft. 

 

The crests on the NAEFS Mississippi River Forecast with 16 days of future rainfall are virtually the same as the operational forecast over the next two weeks with no significant additional rain in the forecast period that would affect the crests. The river will remain high for a long period though and we will need to monitor the rainfall for the next several weeks.

 

We are seeing significant rises on the Lower Ouachita with crests at Camden, (AR) – 43.0, Thatcher, AR – 94.0, Felsenthal, AR – 84.0 and Monroe, LA - 45.0. Flood forecasts for locations on the lower end in the Red River Backwater area reflect a combination of backwater from the Atchafalaya and flood waters from upstream.