Merrill River Stage

Marill’s water-repellant fur dries quickly, helping it remain warm when playing in cold rivers. Furthermore, its oil-filled tail serves as a float when diving deep into rivers to explore their depths.

Cabins along Levee Road and Van Hoosen Road in Sauk County are experiencing flooding, while there is general overflow in Portage.

Flood Warning

This information is derived from historical flood events and should not be used for development purposes; rather it serves as a general guide. Professional advice should always be sought when making development decisions.

This color-coded map depicts current river levels or flood stages for over 6,500 streamgages throughout the US. Zoom into any region that interests you and hover over any dot to access more information like hydrographs and forecasts. The National Weather Service monitors over 2,000 streams throughout the country daily and uses this data to produce these maps each day.

Flood Stage refers to an established gauge height above the datum level that defines the beginning of flooding conditions. Stages are assigned using an analysis of specific impacts and frequency of occurrence for each gauge location in terms of particular waterbodies at that gauge location, taking into account channel/bank characteristics for every stream section as a variable in flooding impacts; in rural areas with sparse gauge networks, this might mean 2-year recurrence interval while in urban centers this same stage might have up to 50-year recurrence interval.

Flood warnings indicate significant inundation of property is occurring or expected, requiring evacuations of people or livestock and possibly life and property loss. The risk for considerable flooding increases at vulnerable shorelines such as tidal areas, rivers, or creeks.

River levels continue to rise, and floodwaters are flooding roads in Sauk County that run along its riverfront, homes, and cabins along Levee Road, Van Hoosen Road, and Indian Trail Parkway, as well as reaching up into low-lying parks and grassy areas. Water has also reached first-floor units within some buildings and grassy areas nearby.

Floodwaters continue to plague homes, businesses, and parking lots in the Riverside Park area of Merrill, as well as Stange’s Park and Prairie River Trails Park. At Merrill Airport, some aircraft had been forced to land on the runway due to flooding issues.

Sauk County residents should remain alert as a flood Warning remains in effect until further notice.

River levels are expected to remain high through the weekend, leading to continued flooding of roads, parking lots, and parks. Merrill Airport runway has been covered by several inches of water; several homes in lower parts of town have experienced flooding; railroad tracks in Sauk have become impassible, preventing access to and from the city.

Flood Watch

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch across much of the Northeast after record rainfall and snow brought by a winter storm brought record waterways into flooding alert from Maine to North Carolina. As rainfall tapers, warnings, and watches remain in effect from Maine through North Carolina must remain in effect.

At this stage, the river is overflowing its banks at Riverside Park in Merrill and flooding roads adjacent to it in Sauk County. Homes affected include the Blackhawk Park area of Portage as well as Stange’s Park and Prairie River Trails Park, both located within Lincoln County.

At over 6,500 stream gage sites around the country, view current river levels or flood stages at any one of over 6,500 stream gage sites nationwide. Hover your cursor over any point to reveal a hydrograph of recent observed water levels; clicking any site provides more details such as historical crests and forecast river levels several days into the future. Most real-time data comes from the U.S. Geological Survey’s national network of stream gage sites, while state and local agencies also contribute.