April 27, 2021 - Spring Rise along the Mississippi River

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   The Mighty Mississippi River claims fame as the second longest river in
   North America, flowing 2,350 miles (3,782 km) from Lake Itasca—a small
   glacial lake in Minnesota—to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi
   watershed is one of the largest in the world, measuring about 1.2
   million square miles (3.2 million square kilometers). The watershed
   consists of more than a hundred tributaries and extends from the
   Appalachian to the Rocky Mountains. It drains about 40 percent of the
   continental United States and encompasses parts of 32 states and two
   Canadian provinces.

   For those living along the Mississippi, life adjusts to the ebb and
   flow of the Big Muddy and a watchful eye is kept open for flood
   conditions. Perhaps the most predictable flood risk occurs in spring,
   when lengthening days and warming temperatures melt snowpack in the
   north and high elevations throughout the Mississippi Basin. As
   rain-and-melt-swollen tributaries spill into the Mississippi, the water
   level rises. After the spring rise comes the floods—usually spotty and
   not tremendously severe, but sometimes widespread and devastating. The
   worst flood on records was the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which
   inundated about 27,000 square miles (70,000 square km) reaching a
   maximum depth of 30 feet (9 m) in some areas.

   On April 25, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image of
   the spring rise along part of the Mississippi River. Utilizing infrared
   and visible light (MODIS bands 7,2,1), this type of false color image
   aids visualization of water (dark blue) against vegetated land (bright
   green). The image captures the meanders of the Mississippi River just
   north of Memphis, Tennessee and along the border of Arkansas and
   Mississippi. The White River can be seen joining the Mississippi in
   Arkansas.

   The Mississippi River appears to be swollen along its entire course,
   with pockets of water dotting several of the low-lying floodplains. The
   White River also appears swollen and perhaps overflowing its banks in
   several areas. According to the National Weather Service, on April 26,
   Minor to Moderate flooding was occurring along the White River for
   several miles. Minor flooding was occurring along the Mississippi River
   south of Memphis, Tennessee and near Arkansas City and Greenville,
   Arkansas. Major flooding is not forecast at this time.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 4/25/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (361.4 KB),  500m (973.6 KB),  250m (536.2
   KB)
   Bands Used: 7,2,1
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-04-27
 
