U.S. River Conditions, October to December 2023

This is an animation showing the changing conditions relative to the historic record of USGS streamgages from October 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023. 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. 

November saw rain in the Mid-Atlantic regions, brin+g+ing only temporary relief from low flows. As November ended, drought conditions improved in Texas. 

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. 

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.