U.S. River Conditions, January to March 2024

This is an animation showing the changing conditions relative to the historic record of USGS streamgages from January 1, 2024 to March 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 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. 

During the quarter, 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.  

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.