U.S. River Conditions for Water Year 2024

This is a thumbnail for an animation showing the changing conditions relative to the historic record of USGS streamgages from October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2024. The river conditions shown range from the driest condition seen at a gage (red open circles) to the wettest (blue closed circles). A purple outer ring around a gage indicates it is flooding.   

In the beginning of October, remnant Tropical Storm Ophelia brought high waters to New Jersey and New York. Concurrently, drought conditions continued across South Central U.S. where it later spread eastward lasting to the end of December. The beginning of December saw high waters from an atmospheric river in the Pacific Northwest. As December ended, Nor’easter and strong fronts brought flooding to parts of the eastern U.S. 

In the beginning of January, extreme drought conditions persisted in parts of the Southern and Central U.S. Concurrently, widespread flooding occurred along much of the East Coast as January ended. Additionally, successive atmospheric rivers brought high water to parts of the West Coast from January til March. Widespread rains continued to impact much of the Eastern U.S. while drought conditions improved in much of the South. As March came to an end, a frontal system brought high water to the East Coast. 

In the beginning of April, minor flooding occurred in parts of the Northeastern U.S. Concurrently, moderate flooding occurred on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. As April came to a close, high waters impacted the Central U.S. into May. From May until June, flooding occurred in East Texas and the Upper Midwest until late June. Low flows persisted for much of Florida and the Mid-Atlantic states as the June came to a close. In the beginning of July, low flows occurred in much of the Eastern U.S., while high flows occurred in the upper Midwest. Later in the month, Hurricane Beryl brought high water, Texas to the Midwest and Great Lakes.  

August saw Hurricane Debby brining flooding along much of the East Coast. Concurrently, drought conditions occurred in many parts of the U.S. As August came to a close, high pressure dried out much of the Eastern U.S. September brought wet conditions to much of the Eastern U.S as Hurricane Francine brought high water to the Gulf Coast and Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 wet much of the Mid-Atlantic. As September came to a close, Hurricane Helene brought record flooding. 

Note that both USGS gage height and National Weather Service flood stage are necessary to determine flooding conditions. The combination was available for 80% of streamgages at the time this graphic was produced. Only publicly available data from Water Data for the Nation were used (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/).