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Record low Mississippi River levels return at Memphis

A hydrologist with the National Weather Service says Mississippi River levels have hit record lows again, dipping to 11.5 feet below normal at Memphis on Wednesday.

Mary Lamm, based in Paducah, Kentucky, says it’s a similar situation to what happened this time last year in the drought, when river levels hit more than 10 feet below normal, with a slight difference.

“Maybe it’s not quite as much of a surprise and we learned how to deal with some of it last year.”

There are heavy rains in the forecast for the Upper Mississippi River Basin, but Lamm says it’s unclear how much of that moisture will move down the river.

“Any moisture will be helpful, but it will take an overall shift in the weather pattern to fix the issue completely and that’s not on the horizon in the next three weeks.”

Lamm says the Army Corps of Engineers has been adjusting well to navigation challenges along the river, but additional navigation delays are expected and farmers might need to a backup plan for marketing their crop.