Flood Crest Forecasts
and River Stage/Streamflow Status

When various points along the rivers within the areas of responsibility for the Arkansas-Red Basin River Forecast Center (ABRFC) and West Gulf River Forecast Center (WGRFC) are forecast to rise near or exceed the defined flood stage, these RFCs issue forecast guidance for these points. These forecasts include a brief description of when the river will rise above flood stage, when and what the crest will be and when the river is forecast to fall below flood stage.

The ABRFC and WGRFC issue river forecast products on an as-needed basis (i.e. river expected to go above flood or rise above a certain predefined level) for numerous locations. These flood forecasts are issued throughout the day as the RFCs are able to run their hydrologic models every six hours. The text-based guidance products use Standard Hydrometeorological Exchange Format (SHEF) code and contain a time series of forecast river heights every six hours. There ABRFC issues 2 forecasts for each point in their area of responsibility; one with forecast precipitation included (the official guidance) and one without forecast precipitation. The ABRFC also produces graphical plots of these forecast time series. However, the WGRFC issues 1 forecast using the forecast precipitation values, and the WGRFC forecasts are not available via the World Wide Web.

The NWS Norman, Oklahoma office and other NWS offices issue flood warnings, flood statements and river statements as part of their hydrologic responsibilities. The NWS Norman forecast area (or Hydrologic Service Area [HSA]) covers 48 counties in Oklahoma and 8 counties in Texas and crosses the boundaries between ABRFC and WGRFC. Most of the warnings and statements issued by the Norman office are based on the the river forecast guidance products issued by these RFCs. It should be noted that the NWS forecast offices are the OFFICIAL sources for all warnings, statements and forecasts and that the river forecast products are considered to be internal NWS products. Links to the latest flood warnings, flood statements and river statements issued by NWS Norman follow.

The ABRFC river text products and river forecast flood hydrographs can be accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/abrfc/fcstpage.php.

ABRFC River Conditions Map

Links to daily streamflow conditions from the national USGS web site, and the USACE office in Tulsa, Oklahoma are available. The National Weather Service's Hydrologic Information Center also has river conditions in the continental United States. These web pages can be accessed using the menu on the left side of the display.

NWS Map of River Conditions in the U.S.

USGS Map of Real-time Streamflow Conditions in the U.S.