New River Forecast Services for the Turkey River at Spillville, IA

SPILLVILLE TO RECEIVE NEW RIVER FORECAST SERVICES

The National Weather Service (NWS) in La Crosse is pleased to announce the commencement of river forecasting services along the Turkey River in Winneshiek County Iowa.

Click here for the latest river information for Spillville.

This new official forecast point for the Turkey River is located on the north edge of Spillville, and forecasts will be issued for the river at that location. These new forecasts will also describe river conditions from upstream west of the Ridgeway area, downstream to near Fort Atkinson. The forecasts will be issued on an as needed basis, when rainfall or snowmelt is expected to cause river levels to rise significantly, and pose a possible threat.

River monitoring has been done at Spillville for many years, dating back to 1956. After a hiatus during much of the 90s, automated equipment was reinstalled by the US Geological Survey in the spring of 2010. Data from this location is used in National Weather Service river models to assist with the forecast of river levels downstream at Elkader and Garber. With this change, forecast levels will now also be available for the Spillville area as well. There will be no other changes to river forecasting services along the Turkey River at this time.

Flood stage for this Spillville location will be 9 feet on the river gauge. The gauge equipment is owned and operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Science Center in Iowa City, IA.

Data from the river gauge are transmitted via automated satellite links to NWS offices. River forecasts are then generated at the North Central River Forecast Center in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and after coordination, are issued by the National Weather Service in La Crosse. These forecasts use past and forecast rainfall or snowmelt in the area, as well as temperatures and soil conditions, as input to a hydrologic model to predict changes in river levels.

Data and forecasts for the Turkey River and other rivers around the area can be viewed on the NWS La Crosse website at: https://www.weather.gov/arx under the “River Info/AHPS” tab. AHPS is the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, which is part of a NWS-wide effort to improve flood forecasting. Visitors to this website can view current river stages, forecasts out to 7 days, maps, historical information, and probabilistic forecasts out to 90 days. River forecasts during flooding will also be available via NOAA weather radio station KXI60 near Decorah (162.525 MHz).

For questions or additional information please contact John Wetenkamp, Hydrology Program Leader at the La Crosse NWS Office (608) 784-8275 x493 or john.wetenkamp@noaa.gov.