Missouri River at Farm Island near Pierre water level

What this means

At 20.42 ft, the Missouri River at Farm Island near Pierre is below normal for late October.

That puts it 0.52 ft below the median of 20.95 ft for late October, based on 28 years of readings. It is 5.58 ft below the flood stage of 26.00 ft. A year ago it stood at 20.32 ft (+0.10 ft).

The level is falling, down 0.12 ft over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 19.96 ft and 22.12 ft.

Fall is often low-water season on rivers, and it usually takes a few days of steady rain to change that.

Compared with 28 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date

20.95 ft0.52 ft below the median for this date

Normal for this date

20.35 ft – 22.31 ft8 years in 10 fall in this range (28 years of records)

Same day last year

20.32 ft+0.10 ft

Lowest and highest in 30 days

19.96 ft – 22.12 ft

Lowest and highest in 12 months

19.05 ft – 22.12 ft

Highest on record

29.52 ftJune 21, 2011