FEBRUARY 9, 2024:
The US Army Corps of Engineers updated 2024 calendar year runoff forecast for the upper Missouri River Basin– which is the part of the river above Sioux City, Iowa– is below average.
National Weather Service Hydrologist Kevin Low says the current mountain snowpack is well below normal.
Low says ice freeze up and ice jam ups will be a risk over the next several weeks.
Low says the most recent outlook shows the majority of the potential for flooding is in the lower basin.
January runoff in the upper Missouri River Basin was 56% of average (0.4 million acre-feet). The 2024 calendar year runoff forecast above Sioux City is 73% of average (18.8 MAF). The runoff forecast is based on current soil moisture conditions, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks. The start of the annual runoff season is typically around March 1.
FEBRUARY 5, 2024:
The US Army Corps of Engineers updated 2024 calendar year runoff forecast for the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, is below average.
John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division, says January runoff in the upper Missouri River Basin was 56% of average (0.4 million acre-feet). He says runoff was below-average because of much-below-normal temperatures over the whole Missouri River Basin and below-normal precipitation over most of the upper basin.
The 2024 calendar year runoff forecast above Sioux City is 73% of average (18.8 MAF). The runoff forecast is based on current soil moisture conditions, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks. The start of the annual runoff season is typically around March 1.
The six mainstem power plants generated 540 million kWh of electricity in January. Typical energy generation for January is 707 million kWh.
Releases from Big Bend Dam:
- Average releases past month – 16,200 cfs
- Forecast average release rate – 14,700 cfs
- Forecast reservoir level – 1420.6 feet
Releases from Oahe Dam:
- Average releases past month – 16,300 cfs
- Forecast average release rate – 14,500 cfs
- End-of-January reservoir level – 1600.0 feet
- Forecast end-of-February reservoir level – 1602.1 feet
The forecast reservoir releases and elevations are not definitive. Additional precipitation, lack of precipitation or other circumstances could cause adjustments to the reservoir release rates.
To view the detailed three-week release forecast for the mainstem dams, go to
Mountain snowpack in the upper Missouri River Basin is accumulating at well-below average rates. The Feb. 1, mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck reach was 51% of average, while the mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck to Garrison reach was 64% of average. By Feb. 1, about 60% of the total mountain snowfall has typically accumulated. Mountain snow normally peaks near April 17. The mountain snowpack graphics can be viewed at http://go.usa.gov/xARQC.
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