News

Temporary relief coming for low Mississippi River

Tropical storm Helene is only expected to bring temporary relief to low Mississippi River levels.

But Mary Lamm, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, tells Brownfield the moisture is needed, because the lower Mississippi River hit record low levels at the end of September.

“Hickman, Kentucky hit -3.05 and New Madrid, Missouri hit -5.97 on September 22. Cairo, Illinois didn’t hit record levels, the record still stands from last year, but south of there on the lower Mississippi, they did hit record low levels.”

That includes the Mississippi River at Memphis. Lamm says there’s already been some slowdown of barge traffic as a result of the low river.

“The dredgers are still out and there’s been some groundings in areas and there are restrictions,” she says. “They’re still moving, but they’re not able to move as much.”

Lamm says there will likely be a bump of 4 to 5 feet, at best, on the lower Mississippi River Monday or Tuesday.

Eric Snodgrass with Nutrien Ag Solutions says he’s watching the situation and the moisture won’t likely be enough to fix the lower Mississippi River levels longer-term.

“It’s all got to be in the big tributaries north of St. Louis to get this all to work well.”

Lamm says the outlook for additional moisture isn’t looking good through mid-October, but situations can change if additional tropical storms move through.