Rivers in Wisconsin

Big Rib River at Rib Falls

Marathon County, WisconsinNWS RIBW3USGS 05396000Green Bay office

Below flood stage
2.17ftStage

Observed Tue, Sep 22, 10:00 AM CDT

Flood stage
10.00 ft
Record crest
16.20 ft1938

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood15.00 ft
Moderate flood13.80 ft
Minor flood10.00 ft
Action7.00 ft
  1. 15.00 ftAbout 8 feet of water is covering Lions park in Marathon City downstream of Rib Falls. Water is in the first level of many homes on River Road north of Marathon City.
  2. 13.00 ftThe water current is fast in the Rib Falls area. In Marathon City, several feet of water is covering Lions Park and water is surrounding homes near River Road north of Marathon City. Widespread lowland flooding is occurring downstream to western Wausau.
  3. 11.50 ftUp to 2 feet of floodwater is covering parts of Lions Park.
  4. 10.00 ftFlooding affects are mainly lowland areas downstream of Rib Falls toward Marathon City.
  5. 9.00 ftThere is minor flooding of lowland downstream between Rib Falls and Marathon City. There is minor flooding in Lions Park in Marathon City.
  6. 7.00 ftThere is minor lowland flooding.

Crest history

29 crests on NOAA’s list since 1926.

#DateStage
1August 31, 193816.20 ft
2September 24, 201015.15 ft
3June 16, 199014.87 ft
4September 18, 194214.50 ft
5August 31, 194113.42 ft
6April 11, 201113.22 ft
7March 16, 201612.98 ft
8September 5, 201812.92 ft
9April 18, 201912.43 ft
10June 27, 194311.60 ft
11May 6, 193611.50 ft
12June 21, 199311.49 ft
13December 15, 201511.43 ft
14July 28, 195311.34 ft
15April 11, 202311.20 ft
16February 22, 201711.14 ft
17August 21, 192610.80 ft
18March 23, 199110.75 ft
19May 18, 201710.53 ft
20June 12, 201710.44 ft
21March 30, 202510.42 ft
22April 11, 201410.41 ft
23September 26, 193410.30 ft
24April 3, 199710.29 ft
25June 8, 194010.20 ft

Most recent crests

  • March 30, 2025: 10.42 ft
  • April 11, 2023: 11.20 ft
  • March 23, 2022: 9.50 ft
  • July 24, 2021: 6.79 ft
  • March 29, 2020: 10.18 ft
  • April 18, 2019: 12.43 ft
  • September 5, 2018: 12.92 ft
  • June 12, 2017: 10.44 ft
  • May 18, 2017: 10.53 ft
  • February 22, 2017: 11.14 ft

Nearby

Upstream, downstream and the gauges around this one.

What this means

Forecasts by the North Central River Forecast Center. Graphical forecasts are not available during times of high water, forecast crest information can be found in the local WFO web page. 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.