Rivers in Nebraska

Missouri River at Nebraska City

Otoe County, NebraskaNWS NEBN1USGS 06807000Valley office

Below flood stage
9.66ftStage

Observed Mon, Sep 28, 3:00 PM CDT

Flood stage
18.00 ft
Forecast crest
9.40 ftMon, Sep 28, 7:00 PM CDT
Record crest
30.12 ft2019

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood27.00 ft
Moderate flood23.00 ft
Minor flood18.00 ft
Action17.00 ft
  1. 27.00 ftWater nears the top of the federal levees.
  2. 25.50 ftHighway 2 may begin to flood.
  3. 25.00 ftThough not in danger of flooding yet, flood preparations begin for critical facilities along this portion of the river.
  4. 23.00 ftAreas and infrastructure along, and including, North First Street flood in Nebraska City.
  5. 20.00 ftThough flooding is already ongoing, this is the level when flooding starts becoming more impactful, especially to agricultural areas.
  6. 17.00 ftAgricultural lowlands along the river begin to flood.

Flood outlook

Chance of flooding, September to November

CategoryChance
Minor flooding22%
Moderate floodingUnder 5%
Major floodingUnder 5%

The three-month chances are the River Forecast Centers’ long-range flood outlook, issued September 23, 2026.

Crest history

83 crests on NOAA’s list since 1881.

#DateStage
1March 16, 201930.12 ft
2June 28, 201128.27 ft
3July 23, 199327.19 ft
4April 18, 195226.57 ft
5June 21, 201025.21 ft
6June 15, 198424.78 ft
7June 30, 202424.35 ft
8June 24, 199723.42 ft
9June 24, 199623.42 ft
10June 29, 201823.30 ft
11June 5, 201923.08 ft
12June 17, 196722.95 ft
13September 24, 201922.93 ft
14July 13, 200822.59 ft
15March 22, 197822.43 ft
16June 23, 201421.85 ft
17August 8, 199621.70 ft
18May 7, 200721.54 ft
19April 5, 196021.43 ft
20June 3, 199521.35 ft
21July 1, 198321.21 ft
22April 18, 199721.06 ft
23March 25, 198720.96 ft
24April 28, 195020.95 ft
25June 29, 199920.73 ft

Most recent crests

  • June 27, 2025: 16.74 ft
  • June 30, 2024: 24.35 ft
  • March 1, 2023: 11.86 ft
  • June 18, 2022: 11.92 ft
  • March 16, 2021: 14.25 ft
  • May 28, 2020: 18.07 ft
  • September 24, 2019: 22.93 ft
  • June 5, 2019: 23.08 ft
  • March 16, 2019: 30.12 ft
  • June 29, 2018: 23.30 ft

Nearby

Upstream, downstream and the gauges around this one.

What this means

Forecasts by the Missouri Basin 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. 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. Stage may be affected by ice.

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.