Most states in the Mississippi River Basin experienced above average precipitation. The 12-month period ending in April 2019 was the wettest to date during the 1895-2019 period of record, with an average of 36.27 inches (921 mm) of precipitation over the conterminous United States. The most extreme flooding occurred along the tributaries of the Missouri River, the largest tributary (by area) of the Mississippi River.
In mid-March, snow-melt accelerated by heavy rain and rapidly warming temperatures resulted in catastrophic flooding in portions of the Midwestern United States. Kansas experienced its wettest meteorological spring receiving 14.31 inches (363 mm) of precipitation of which 10.51 inches (267 mm) fell in May. The conterminous United States recorded the fifth wettest meteorological spring (March 2019 - May 2019) during the 1895-2019 period of record, with an average of 9.92 inches (252 mm) of precipitation. Wetter than normal conditions persisted into the spring with precipitation concentrated in the western and northern regions of the Mississippi River Basin. US Statewide Precipitation Ranks Spring 2019 While the Mississippi River floods of 2019 set records for duration and total volume, only a few locations along the Mississippi River saw record stages or flows.
Flooding along the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers in the winter was followed by catastrophic floods in portions of the Midwestern United States in the early spring and record flooding along the Arkansas River in late May.
#MISSISSIPPI RIVER SERIES#
Instead, a series of flood events in tributary basins produced Mississippi River flooding of record duration. įlooding along the Mississippi River was not the result of a single weather event. As of late April 2019, shipments of corn to export terminals in Louisiana were 31% lower than in same period in 2018. This delayed shipments of agricultural commodities, adding to the economic stress of crop losses caused by flooding. In addition to property and crop losses and infrastructure damages, commercial navigation on the Mississippi River was interrupted repeatedly by high currents, low bridge clearances, and closed locks. Flood damages totaling $6.2 billion were reported in the 11 states bordering the Mississippi River.
Estimated damages in the Midwestern United States alone had reached $12.5 billion by April 2019. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1985.Map of the course, watershed, and major tributaries of the Mississippi Riverįlooding in the Mississippi River Basin during the winter, spring, and summer of 2019 caused at least 12 deaths and economic losses in 19 states totaling in excess of $20 billion. Great River: An Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi, 1890–1950. The river has also served a key role in transportation and commerce throughout the center of the United States. The river valley's bottomlands have been used extensively for agriculture. The entire valley was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. France, Spain, and England claimed portions of the valley, and it served as the western boundary of the United States after 1783. He was followed by Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673, Louis Hennepin in 1679, and Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1682. Hernando De Soto was the first European to document seeing the Mississippi Valley in 1541. 1000 many of these groups were engaged in agricultural production in the rich bottomland. The river valley was originally home to numerous Native American groups. These and other changes to the river have combined with agricultural, industrial, and urban run off to significantly impair the ecological health of the river and its valley. Originally the river meandered significantly through its broad valley, but flood control and improving the river for transportation have resulted in significant straightening by the U.S. It stretches 2,348 miles from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota to the mouth of the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY occupies the center of the United States.
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