May 8, 2023 - Flooding on the Mississippi River in Illinois and Iowa

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May 3, 2023 April 18, 2023
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A winter filled with record-breaking snowfall followed by spring storms
and rising temperatures triggered heaving flooding along the
Mississippi River in late April and early May 2023. According to the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the winter of 2022-2023 was
one of the snowiest on record across most of Minnesota. As of April 20,
2023, Duluth measured 139 inches of snow over the winter, setting a new
all-time record as it surpassed the previous 135.4 top snow. St.
Cloud’s winter was its second snowiest winter since record-keeping in
the state began 100 years ago, with 86.6 inches.

The built-up snow, which is called snowpack, is beneficial as it holds
water that, if released slowly, can help keep growing conditions
excellent through the heat of summer. But, when a “big melt” occurs and
the snow turns to water all at once, damaging floods can follow. As
melting snow and spring downpours cause rivers to rise along the
Mississippi River and its tributaries, starting from the north and
flowing southward, residents are filling sandbags and trying to protect
their property.

This year’s springtime floods reached major level in Minnesota,
Illinois, and Iowa by late April or early May, with rising waters
continuing southward along the Mississippi. As of May 6, the National
Weather Service advised that the Mississippi River had crested in most
cities in Minnesota by April 28, and most of the crests fell within the
top 5 crests on record. Major level flooding occurred at Wabasha,
Winona, Trempealeau, La Cross and McGregor. It will take until around
May 10 for most sites in that state to fall below Flood Stage, and
another week after that for the river to return to its banks. As of May
6, the Mississippi River had crested in most locations in Illinois and
Iowa, with moderate flooding remaining in from Dubuque to Camanche,
Iowa and major flooding between Le Claire and Burlington, Iowa and
minor flooding in the more southerly town of Keokuk.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board
NASA’s Terra satellite acquired two false-color images of the
springtime flood in Iowa and Illinois, one on May 6 and the other on
April 18. This type of false-color image helps differentiate water,
which appears blue, from bright green vegetation. Sparsely vegetated or
open land appears tan. Each image can be viewed by clicking on the
dates.

The Mississippi River flows through the center of the image, and is
heavily flooded. In the north, the Rock River flows westward into the
Mississippi at South Rock Island, Illinois with Davenport, Iowa across
the Mississippi. The water appears higher in the Rock River and other
nearby rivers on April 18. The town of New Boston, Illinois sits near
where the Iowa River meets the Mississippi, located just southwest of
center in this image. What appears to be a bulge in the Mississippi
just north of the Iowa River is Lake Odessa, and Port Lousia National
Wildlife Refuge. This more southerly location is more heavily flooded
in the May 6 image, as the large islands in Lake Odessa can be seen on
April 18 but are submerged in the later image.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 5/3/2023
Resolutions: 1km (133.6 KB), 500m (308 KB), 250m (181.8 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-05-08

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