U.S. River Conditions, October to December 2024

This is an animation showing the changing conditions relative to the historic record of USGS streamgages from October 1, 2024 to December 31, 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 early October, high water impacted the Southeastern U.S. as Hurricane Helene moved through the region. Shortly thereafter, Hurricane Milton brought prolonged flooding to Florida, lasting into early November. Meanwhile, drought conditions persisted across many parts of the U.S., continuing through the end of the year. 

By mid-October, Pacific cyclones brought high water to the Northwest U.S. which continued into late November. Concurrently, low flows occurred in much of the Northeast, lasting through mid-November. 

November saw some improvement in drought conditions in parts of the South Central U.S. As the month came to a close, another round of cyclones impacted the Pacific Northwest, bringing high water through the end of December. Additionally, December saw improved drought conditions in the Eastern U.S.  

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/).