Rivers in Mississippi

Big Black River near Bentonia

Madison County, MississippiNWS BTAM6USGS 07289730Jackson office

Below flood stage
4.37ftStage

Observed Wed, Sep 23, 5:00 AM CDT

Flood stage
22.00 ft
Forecast crest
4.30 ftWed, Sep 23, 7:00 AM CDT
Record crest
32.48 ft1983

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood29.00 ft
Moderate flood25.00 ft
Minor flood22.00 ft
Action21.00 ft
  1. 43.00 ftRiver reaches gage house along Highway 49.
  2. 40.00 ftWater is near the road surface on the Highway 49 bridge over the Big Black River.
  3. 37.50 ftWater is approaching the underclearance of the Highway 49 bridge.
  4. 32.47 ftThe river is at the flood of record.
  5. 29.00 ftAgricultural land along the river is devastated by flood waters.
  6. 28.00 ftDevastating flooding of agricultural land begins to occur.
  7. 26.50 ftFlooding of agricultural land has more than doubled in the last 1.5 feet rise.
  8. 25.00 ftExtensive flooding of agricultural land is occurring.
  9. 23.50 ftAgricultural land near the river begins to flood.
  10. 22.00 ftLow lying woodland areas along the river begins to flood.
  11. 21.00 ftMinor low land flooding occurs along the river.

Flood outlook

Chance of flooding, September to November

CategoryChance
Minor floodingUnder 5%
Moderate floodingUnder 5%
Major floodingUnder 5%

The three-month chances are the River Forecast Centers’ long-range flood outlook, issued September 16, 2026.

Crest history

103 crests on NOAA’s list since 1948.

#DateStage
1May 23, 198332.48 ft
2April 15, 197931.81 ft
3March 30, 195131.64 ft
4December 19, 196131.35 ft
5February 13, 202031.20 ft
6May 2, 195830.80 ft
7April 7, 200029.76 ft
8May 2, 199129.66 ft
9March 20, 197329.50 ft
10April 16, 201929.47 ft
11December 9, 198329.40 ft
12January 9, 194929.40 ft
13April 18, 196929.12 ft
14April 15, 201428.99 ft
15April 27, 199528.88 ft
16March 13, 201628.79 ft
17February 27, 201928.55 ft
18February 1, 199928.53 ft
19January 17, 202028.51 ft
20June 15, 202128.47 ft
21February 17, 194828.38 ft
22January 18, 198928.32 ft
23January 13, 197228.30 ft
24December 21, 196728.30 ft
25May 12, 197828.21 ft

Most recent crests

  • July 23, 2021: 25.57 ft
  • June 15, 2021: 28.47 ft
  • April 14, 2021: 24.32 ft
  • September 28, 2020: 24.75 ft
  • April 26, 2020: 27.50 ft
  • March 7, 2020: 26.84 ft
  • February 13, 2020: 31.20 ft
  • January 17, 2020: 28.51 ft
  • December 28, 2019: 24.32 ft
  • November 2, 2019: 27.55 ft

Nearby

Upstream, downstream and the gauges around this one.

What this means

Forecasts by the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center. Forecasts are issued routinely year-round. 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.

Sources

Stage, flood stages, impacts and crest history from NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service. Streamflow and the daily record from the U.S. Geological Survey.