Colder temperatures lead to ice on Missouri River

It's been well below average in terms of temperatures for all of Mid-Missouri the last several weeks. This has lead to the formation of increasing floating ice on the Missouri River.

The issue with long sustained cooler temperatures occurs whenever these floating ice pads increase substantially increasing the possibility of an ice jam.

Ice jams can lead to flooding upstream of the dammed water as the flowing river becomes unable to support the increasing reservoir. On the downstream side of the ice jam, water levels can decrease causing dangerously low water levels. These lower water levels could negatively impact communities that depend on the Missouri river for power or water needs as the flow can decrease substantially and water pump intakes could become too high to pull water

Thankfully Jud Kneuvean who is the chief of the Readiness Contingency Operations Office for the U.S Army Corp of Engineers says, “We don't expect the ice to last very long. If in place long enough it'll cause an increases in stage upstream of the ice jam, and a decrease in stages downstream of the ice jam. It can have an impact on water users who draw water directly from the Missouri River but in most circumstances those impacts are short-term. This is especially true during periods of low inflow. No flooding is expected.”

This is welcoming information as any impacts for a future potential ice jam look to remain low and mostly unimpactful.