Is the Missouri River flooding?
The Missouri River is tracked by 12 USGS streamgauges in Missouri. This page compares each gauge’s live water level against its official National Weather Service flood stage, refreshed every 15 minutes, so you can tell whether the Missouri River is running normal, rising toward flood stage, or already flooding. 11 of 12 gauges have both a usable water-level reading and a published minor flood stage. Gauges without a published flood stage show water level and flow only. For nearby rivers, see all Missouri river levels.
River facts
The longest-running gauge on this river is Missouri River at Hermann, MO. The highest level ever recorded there was 36.97 ft on 31 July 1993, carrying 750,000 cfs. Peak records there go back to 1844 (99 annual peaks). It is currently at 5.24 ft, 31.7 ft below that record.
| Gauge | Status | Stage | Flood stage | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, MO | No flooding | 6.68 ft | 17 ft | |
| Missouri River above Parkville, MO | No flooding | 9.08 ft | 25 ft | |
| Missouri River at Kansas City, MO | No flooding | 9.21 ft | 32 ft | |
| Missouri River at Napoleon, MO | No flooding | 5.89 ft | 17 ft | |
| Missouri River at Waverly, MO | No flooding | 9.90 ft | 20 ft | |
| Missouri River at Glasgow, MO | No flooding | 10.43 ft | 25 ft | |
| Missouri River at Boonville, MO | No flooding | 7.32 ft | 21 ft | |
| Missouri River at Jefferson City, MO | No flooding | 4.85 ft | 23 ft | |
| Missouri River at Hermann, MO | No flooding | 5.24 ft | 21 ft | |
| Missouri River at Washington, MO | No flooding | 2.16 ft | 20 ft | |
| Missouri River at St. Charles, MO | No flooding | 8.69 ft | 25 ft | |
| Missouri River near Labadie, MO | No flood stage defined | 3.02 ft | — |
About the Missouri River
The Missouri is the longest river in North America, draining a sixth of the continental United States from the Rockies to its confluence with the Mississippi just above St. Louis. Through Missouri it is a narrowed, engineered navigation channel — a very different river from the braided one the Corps inherited.
An engineered river
Six large mainstem dams upstream in the Dakotas and Montana, plus extensive bank stabilisation and channel works downstream, mean the lower Missouri is managed rather than natural. Reservoir operations determine much of the flow reaching Missouri in an ordinary year.
Channelisation also narrowed and deepened the river, which moves water downstream faster and confines it between levees. The consequence is that when the system is overwhelmed, water has fewer places to go.
1993 and after
The Missouri basin was central to the Great Flood of 1993, which produced record flooding across nine states and caused around $15 billion in damage nationally, with hundreds of levee failures along the Missouri and Mississippi. The flood prompted a lasting reassessment of levee policy and floodplain development.
Major flooding has recurred since, and the pattern is consistent: prolonged, basin-wide wet conditions combined with heavy runoff, rather than a single storm.
Reading this river
Levels here reflect upstream reservoir releases as much as weather, so a rise with no local rain is routine and usually not a sign of flooding on its own.
Because the channel is confined by levees, the relationship between stage and risk is sharp: a modest additional rise near flood stage can matter much more than the same rise well below it. Compare against the local flood stage, not against other gauges.