Will Cedar River Reach Record LOW Levels?

Usually when we’re talking about ‘River Levels’ it’s for flooding, not how LOW the river is.

In Cedar Falls six of the Top 10 highest crests have occurred this century, including the all-time record during “The Iowa Flood of 2008.”

Now the river is approaching record LOW levels due to the lack of rain in the Midwest this summer.

The Flood Stage in downtown Waterloo is 13 feet and the record is 27.01 feet, set on June 11, 2008. As of midday, Monday, August 2, The Cedar River in Waterloo was at a stage of 5.4 feet.

weather.gov

The all-time LOW water record is 4.65 feet set in January of 1959. Of the nearly 340 dates recorded for low water levels in Waterloo, the current level ranks inside the Top 100 lowest of all time.

38 of Minnesota’s 121 river gauge sites report ‘Low’ levels, including its two gauges for the Cedar River near the cities of Lansing and Austin.

In July, Waterloo had just 1.23” of rain, over three inches below normal.

According to drought.gov, 2021 is currently the 8th driest year to date out of the last 127 years. 100% of Black Hawk County is in a 'Moderate Drought.' Nearly 48% of the county is in a 'Severe Drought.' 30 states are currently in the 'Moderate Drought' stage.

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