Unseasonable Flooding on the Mississippi River

Parts of the Mississippi are swollen and spilling over its banks due to late December rains that are now flowing downstream.

Image of the Day Water Floods

Winter Flooding in Mississippi and Louisiana

Persistent heavy rains in the first two months of 2020 have swelled rivers from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico.

Image of the Day Land Water Floods Severe Storms Human Presence Remote Sensing

Winter Flooding on the Mississippi

Persistent rains and saturated soils across the watershed swelled the river to its banks and occasionally onto floodplains.

Image of the Day Water Floods Severe Storms

Lingering Floodwaters near Vicksburg, Mississippi

These false-color images compare conditions along the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers around Vicksburg in June 2011, during heavy flooding, and three years earlier.

Land Floods

Floods in the U.S. Midwest

Floods

Floods Continue along the Mississippi River

Acquired May 8, 2011, April 29, 2011, and May 3, 2010, these false-color images show water levels along the Mississippi River between Memphis and Vicksburg.

Land Floods

Flooding in Memphis

Acquired May 10, 2011, and April 21, 2010, these natural-color images show flooded and normal conditions along the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee.

Image of the Day Land Floods Human Presence

Flooding Continues Along the Mississippi

The Landsat 8 satellite observed water out of the river banks and on the floodplains near St. Louis.

Image of the Day Land Water Floods Remote Sensing

Rising Waters on the Lower Mississippi

Acquired May 15, 2011, April 29, 2011, and May 4, 2010, these false-color images show conditions along the Lower Mississippi River.

Land Floods

Floods in the U.S. Midwest

Floods

Flooding in Arkansas and Mississippi

Flooding in early 2016 affected communities along the length of the Mississippi River; here is the view near Arkansas City.

Land Life Water Floods Human Presence

The Mississippi and Missouri are Badly Swollen

At least 200 gauges along the waterways of the Central United States reported some level of flooding.

Image of the Day Land Water Floods Remote Sensing

Great Flood of the Mississippi River, 1993

During the first half of 1993, the U.S. Midwest experienced unusually heavy rains. Much of the United States in the upper reaches of the Mississippi River drainage basin received more than 1.5 times their average rainfall in the first six months of the year, and parts of North Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas experienced more than double. The rains often arrived in very intense storms. Floods overwhelmed the elaborate system of dykes and other water control structures in the Mississippi River basin, leading to the greatest flood ever recorded on the Upper Mississippi. In St. Louis, the Mississippi remained above flood stage for 144 days between April 1 and September 30, 1993.

Image of the Day Land Life

Flooding along the Mississippi River

Acquired April 28, 2011, and April 29, 2010, these false-color images compare spring flooding conditions.

Land Floods