The First 2024 Spring Flood Outlook For The Quad Cities

There always seems to be flooding in the Quad Cities every year. We should expect it living on the Mississippi River.

Flooding can be worse during some years than others. If you've been in the Quad Cities for the past 5 years, you know just how high the Mississippi River can get and how badly it can flood much of the Quad Cities.

Get our free mobile app

If you're concerned about what kind of spring flooding we'll get in 2024, let me assure you that it won't be 2023 or even 2019 levels. Actually, we'll be on the lower side of flood issues barring any massive rainstorms north of the area. That is spelled out quite clearly in the first 2024 Spring Flood Outlook from the National Weather Service.

What Spring Flooding Will Most Likely Look Like

Here's the good news you needed to hear today. There shouldn't be any panic about flooding this spring and that's thanks to the dry winter we had. Officials from the National Weather Service of the Quad Cities are saying we'll probably have a break from flooding in 2024.

The Spring Flood Outlook for the Mississippi River is below normal.

That's even pretty much true for all of the people who have tributaries that are near their homes or in their communities. There is a near to below normal spring flood risk for local tributary rivers.

What The River Forecast Looks Like At Rock Island

We definitely won't be having a repeat of 2019 or 2023. The flood stage at Lock & Dam 15 in Rock Island, Illinois is 15 feet. As you can see in the graphic above, the highest we'll see the Mississippi River possibly get will be early April and that's only around 12.5 feet.

There Are 3 Things To Say "Thank You" For This News

The National Weather Service says that this Spring Flood Outlook for 2024 has three factors for why we shouldn't have much flooding this spring:

• Current snow cover and snow water equivalent are well below normal
• Widespread normal to below normal soil moisture levels to soak up rain and melting snow
• We've already had our local snow melt and it wasn't that bad

The National Weather Service isn't saying that major flooding couldn't happen, but the chances are below normal. They will update their Spring Flooding Outlook a couple more times to give us a clearer picture. You can see the most recent one here and a breakdown of it here.