Web Portal Changes: The Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) hosted at https://water.weather.gov will be replaced by the National Water Prediction Service (NWPS), with a target of March 2024. Existing AHPS content and features will be preserved and expanded within NWPS.

Experimental National Water Center Products: Flood Inundation Mapping services are now available for 10% of the U.S. population. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/owp/operations for more information. The National Hydrologic Discussion, Area Hydrologic Discussion, Flood Hazard Outlook, and real-time geospatial services depicting River Forecast Center and National Water Model forecasts, continue to be accessible via the URL above, as described in the StoryMap here.

Weather Forecast Office Des Moines, IA

North Central River Forecast Center

Hydrograph

River at a Glance

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Probability Information Weekly Chance of Exceeding Levels Chance of Exceeding Levels During Entire Period Short-term Probabilistic Guidance (Experimental)

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Printable Image About this graph Tabular Data (UTC) Tabular Data (CDT) Datum: NAVD88 Metadata

NOTE: Forecasts for the West Fork Des Moines River at Emmetsburg are issued as needed during times of high water, but are not routinely available. More information on datums is available at www.ngs.noaa.gov/faq.shtml

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Upstream Gauge

Downstream Gauge

Flood Categories (in feet) Major Flood Stage: 15 Moderate Flood Stage: 13 Flood Stage: 11 Action Stage: 9 Low Stage (in feet): -9999 Historic Crests (1) 13.44 ft on 03/25/2019 (2) 13.26 ft on 07/10/2018 (3) 12.33 ft on 06/20/2014 (4) 9.77 ft on 05/02/2016 (5) 8.57 ft on 05/22/2017 (6) 7.68 ft on 06/24/2013 (7) 7.40 ft on 06/05/2012 (8) 4.47 ft on 08/20/2015 (9) 2.70 ft on 03/29/2021 (10) 0.00 ft on 03/11/2020 (P): Preliminary values subject to further review. Recent Crests (1) 2.70 ft on 03/29/2021 (2) 0.00 ft on 03/11/2020 (3) 13.44 ft on 03/25/2019 (4) 13.26 ft on 07/10/2018 (5) 8.57 ft on 05/22/2017 (6) 9.77 ft on 05/02/2016 (7) 4.47 ft on 08/20/2015 (8) 12.33 ft on 06/20/2014 (9) 7.68 ft on 06/24/2013 (10) 7.40 ft on 06/05/2012 (P): Preliminary values subject to further review. Low Water Records Currently none available. For more information on your flood risk go to www.floodsmart.gov. Show FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layers FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layers not showing? Why aren't the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layers showing on the ESRI Map? Possible reasons: There are no FEMA National Flood Hazard Layers for the location which you are viewing on ESRI Maps. The FEMA Web Mapping Service (WMS) is down. Note: Your zoom level may have changed. ESRI's zoom levels must be between 14 and 16 to show National Flood Hazard layers.

Zoom Level:13 Legend FEMA Layer Gauge Location Disclaimer Latitude/Longitude Disclaimer: The gauge location shown in the above map is the approximate location based on the latitude/longitude coordinates provided to the NWS by the gauge owner.

Flood Impacts & Photos

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14.5	US 18 is closed.
14	Sandbagging operations occur for businesses along US 18 on the west side of town in and near the flood plain.
13.5	US 18 west of Emmetsburg is threatened. Sandbagging operations may occur for the sewer plant and wells. Northern Natural Gas distribution plant is also threatened.
13	Closure of Iowa 4 is likely. Some of the airport runways are threatened. Water flows into Boggess gravel pits.
12.5	Osgood Road floods.
12	Water reaches sections of Iowa 4 south of Emmetsburg. The road to the rendering plant is closed.
11.5	Southern portions of the airport field are affected including approaches to the primary runway. Grass airstrips are affected near hangars along the east side of the airfield.
11	Iowa 4 is threatened in areas near the river overpass. The road to the rendering plant is threatened and the road to the sanitary landfill area is closed.
10	Water affects the flood plain. The access road to the sanitary landfill area is threatened.

About This Location

Latitude: 43.126472° N, Longitude: 94.707222° W, Horizontal Datum: NAD83/WGS84 River Stage Reference Frame Gauge Height Flood Stage Uses NWS stage 0 ft 11 ft Interpreting hydrographs and NWS watch, warnings, and forecasts, and inundation maps Vertical Datum Elevation (gauge height = 0) Elevation (gauge height = flood stage) Elevation information source NAVD88 1196.29 ft Not Available Survey grade GPS equipment, FEMA flood plain maps, newer USGS topographic maps NGVD 29 Not Available Not Available Older USGS topographic maps, NGVD29 benchmarks MSL Not Available Not Available Older USGS topographic maps, MSL benchmarks Other Not Available Not Available   Current/Historical Observations: Corps of Engineers (COE) Info for Emmetsburg U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data and Site Info for Emmetsburg

Additional Information

How low could the river get? USGS 7-Day Streamflow Duration Hydrograph for this location: USGS Cumulative Streamflow Hydrograph for this location:

Resources

Hydrologic Resources Text Products Past Precipitation Forecast Precipitation River Forecast Centers River Stage Summary Hourly River Stages NWS AHPS Inundation Mapping Locations AHPS Webpage FAQs

Additional Resources Area Hydrographs NWS Precipitation and River Forecasting AHPS Iframes for Developers Mobile iNWS for emergency management US Geological Survey (map of sites) US Geological Survey (table of sites) US Army Corps of Engineers Iowa Flood Center (stream sensors) NWS River Forecast Point Monitor NWS Des Moines Hydro Briefing Snow Information

Collaborative Agencies The National Weather Service prepares its forecasts and other services in collaboration with agencies like the US Geological Survey, US Bureau of Reclamation, US Army Corps of Engineers, Natural Resource Conservation Service, National Park Service, ALERT Users Group, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and many state and local emergency managers across the country. For details, please click here. NWS Information National Weather Service Des Moines Weather Forecast Office 9607 NW Beaver Dr. Des Moines, IA 50131 (515) 270-2614 Ask Questions/Webmaster Page last modified: 2-Nov-2020 7:29 PM Disclaimer Credits Glossary Privacy Policy About Us Career Opportunities