Will The Rivers Flood In Eastern Iowa & Western Illinois This Spring? Here’s The Forecast

The only bad part of spring.

Since I've moved to the Quad Cities, I've learned that one constant is the river rising (especially the Mississippi) every spring. It gets to some level of annoying and out of it's banks, whether it's highly problematic or not.

We're all watching how much snow areas north of us will get in a winter to see how much melt could make it's way into the river. And even though we're getting dumped with snow this week, I do have good news.

The National Weather Service of the Quad Cities has released their first Spring Flood Outlook for 2025. Here's the summary:

• Mississippi River is at a below-normal risk for flooding
• Local rivers are at a near-to-below-normal risk for flooding

And it is kind of the lack of snow that is part of the reason why the Mississippi is low-risk in this first forecast. The NWS says that the lower risk levels are due to:

• Low snow water equivalent
• Below-normal precipitation around the headwaters
• Deep, frozen soil
• Local streams are currently at or below-normal levels

This makes sense, as the Mississippi River has looked low for a while now.

You can always keep up with the current Mississippi River level at the Rock Island Lock & Dam on NOAA's website. This spring flood outlook forecast is for February through April. Things like a lot of rain or snow in the spring can shift it around.