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: The National Hydrologic Discussion, Area Hydrologic Discussion, and Flood Hazard Outlook, and real-time geospatial services depicting River Forecast Center and National Water Model forecasts, continue to be accessible via https://www.weather.gov/owp/operations, as described in the StoryMap here.

Weather Forecast Office Chicago, IL

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: River forecasts for this location take into account past precipitation and the precipitation amounts expected approximately 24 hours into the future from the forecast issuance time. NOTE: Forecasts for the Des Plaines River near Russell are issued as needed during times of high water, but are not routinely available.

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Downstream Gauge

Flood Categories (in feet) Major Flood Stage: 10 Moderate Flood Stage: 9 Flood Stage: 7 Action Stage: 6.5 Low Stage (in feet): 1 Historic Crests (1) 12.11 ft on 07/14/2017 (2) 11.09 ft on 05/23/2004 (3) 10.75 ft on 09/27/1986 (4) 10.75 ft on 03/06/1976 (5) 10.51 ft on 08/24/2007 Show More Historic Crests (P): Preliminary values subject to further review. Recent Crests (1) 7.10 ft on 03/12/2021 (2) 8.90 ft on 05/20/2020 (3) 9.03 ft on 05/01/2020 (4) 7.87 ft on 03/31/2020 (5) 7.00 ft on 10/31/2019 Show More Recent Crests (P): Preliminary values subject to further review. Low Water Records (1) 0.76 ft on 09/29/1994 (2) 0.80 ft on 08/11/2005 (3) 1.09 ft on 07/18/2012 (4) 1.10 ft on 10/03/1991 (5) 1.15 ft on 08/18/2006 Show More Low Water Records 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:15 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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16	Commercial parking lots threatened along Skokie Highway (US-41).
15	Kilbourne Road threatened.
13.5	Wadsworth Road threatened in Wadsworth.
13	Skokie Highway (US-41) threatened south of Wadsworth Road in Wadsworth. Widespread inundation reaches up to a half mile from the river in Russell and Wadsworth.
12.5	Rosecrans Road (IL-173) threatened near Wadsworth.
12	Residential structures threatened along Ingram Drive. Russell Road threatened. Roadways and trails threatened at Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve.
9.5	Residential structures threatened along Russell Road between the river and Kilbourne Road.
8	Agricultural and park land is inundated near the river. Residential property is threatened near the river.
7	Low-lying wetlands and agricultural land is inundated near the river.

Low Water Impacts

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1.0	River nears zero flow.

About This Location

Latitude: 42.489167° N, Longitude: 87.926389° W, Horizontal Datum: NAD27 River Stage Reference Frame Gauge Height Flood Stage Uses NWS stage 0 ft 7 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 661.74 668.74 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: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data and Site Info for Russell

Additional Information

How much forecast precipitation was used for the current river forecast? How low could the river get?

Resources

Hydrologic Resources Text Products Past Precipitation Forecast Precipitation River Forecast Centers River Stage Summary USGS WaterAlert Gauge Notifications Drought Information Snow Cover Information Flood Safety NWS Chicago Hydrology Program Hydrology of North Illinois and Northwest Indiana

Additional Resources Area Hydrographs NWS Precipitation and River Forecasting AHPS Iframes for Developers Mobile iNWS for emergency management

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 Chicago Weather Forecast Office 333 W. University Dr. Romeoville, IL 60446 (815) 834-1435 Ask Questions/Webmaster Page last modified: 2-Nov-2020 7:29 PM Disclaimer Credits Glossary Privacy Policy About Us Career Opportunities