The Ozarks — River Levels & Flows

Spring-fed rivers and tailwaters across Missouri, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Big Buoy shows live USGS river gauges across MO, AR, OK, with stage, flow and a 7-day trend for each, plus National Weather Service flood categories where they are published.

About The Ozarks

The Ozark Plateau is limestone, and limestone is why these rivers behave the way they do: much of the flow arrives from springs rather than runoff, so the clear upland floats hold their level through dry spells that flatten rivers elsewhere. The same geology makes them flashy after heavy rain, when surface water moves fast over rock instead of soaking in. Several of the best-known reaches are tailwaters below large impoundments, where level is set by generation rather than by weather, and can change while the sky stays clear.

How to read these gauges

Flow (discharge, in cubic feet per second) is comparable between gauges and is usually the better number for judging whether a river is up or down. Stage is the water height in feet above each gauge's own local datum, so it is local: the same 4 ft describes different rivers at two different gauges. Readings older than three times a gauge's reporting interval are shown as last reported rather than as current conditions, and a gauge that reports nothing is shown as not reported — never as zero.

Data: USGS National Water Information System. Flood categories: NOAA/National Weather Service.