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 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 48 hours into the future from the forecast issuance time. NOTE: Forecasts for the Illinois River at Starved Rock Lock (tailwater) are issued routinely year-round.

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Upstream Gauge

Downstream Gauge

Flood Categories (in feet) Major Flood Stage: 465 Moderate Flood Stage: 460 Flood Stage: 450 Action Stage: 449 Low Stage (in feet): 438.7 Historic Crests (1) 467.81 ft on 04/19/2013 (2) 467.31 ft on 09/16/2008 (3) 465.86 ft on 05/19/2020 (4) 464.70 ft on 12/05/1982 (5) 464.61 ft on 05/03/2019 Show More Historic Crests (P): Preliminary values subject to further review. Recent Crests (1) 465.86 ft on 05/19/2020 (2) 464.61 ft on 05/03/2019 (3) 463.65 ft on 02/22/2018 (4) 460.14 ft on 05/02/2017 (5) 461.82 ft on 12/30/2015 Show More Recent Crests (P): Preliminary values subject to further review. Low Water Records (1) 439.90 ft on 10/03/2012 (2) 440.34 ft on 10/01/2017 (3) 440.38 ft on 10/16/2015 (4) 440.78 ft on 09/28/2020 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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467.5	North Utica Village Hall and North Utica Police Department are threatened.
464.5	A few residences threatened in North Utica. IL-178 (Clark Street) threatened in North Utica.
463	A couple structures threatened in North Utica.
461.5	High water causes the Starved Rock Lock to shut down.
459	Dee Bennet Road is threatened between Ottawa and Utica.
458	High water levels begin to impact shipping interests along the river.
455	High water causes the Starved Rock Hydroelectric Power Station to shut down.
Photos (1) Starved Rock (2) Gates at lock and dam September 2010. (3) Looking upstream. September 2010.

Low Water Impacts

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438.7	Low water levels begin to impact shipping interests along the river.

About This Location

Latitude: 41.325062° N, Longitude: 88.987417° W, Horizontal Datum: Unknown River Stage Reference Frame Gauge Height Flood Stage Uses NWS stage 0 ft 450 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 -0.19 449.81 Survey grade GPS equipment, FEMA flood plain maps, newer USGS topographic maps NGVD 29 Not Available 450.0 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 Starved Rock Lock (tailwater) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data and Site Info for Starved Rock Lock (tailwater)

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