[U.S. Geological Survey]
Water Resources of Illinois
News Release

Flooding In Northeastern Illinois Sets New Records

According to hydrologists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Resources Division office in Urbana, Illinois, all-time record streamflows were recorded so far at 14 rivers in northeastern Illinois. Some of these rivers are still rising. The flooding was caused by intense rainfall overnight in the following counties: Cook, De Kalb, Kane, Kendall, Du Page, Will, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, and Ogle. Preliminary rain gage reports for the period of July 17 and 18 from De Kalb give a rain total of 8-9 inches; The Aurora rain gage overflowed at 14.5 inches with an estimated total of 16 inches. O'Hare airport in Chicago reported 6.5 inches of total rainfall.

Streamflow records have been set to date on the following streams:


                                                        Previous     
                                    Record Height      Record Height  Period
                                     (Feet above        (Feet above      of
Stream                               datum)             datum)         Record
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blackberry Creek at Yorkville, Ill.   11.46*             9.91      1961-present
Butterfield Creek at Flossmoor, Ill.  12.57             11.97      1948-present
Dupage River at Shorewood, Ill.       11.66*            11.06      1941-present
East Branch Dupage River at           23.77             22.67      1989-present
     Bolingbrook, Ill.
Kishwaukee River at Perryville, Ill.  22.72*            20.71      1940-present
Kress Creek at West Chicago, Ill.      9.24              7.37      1986-present
Long Run at Lemont, Ill.              11.03              9.91      1951-present
Sawmill Creek at Lemont, Ill.         17.53             15.60      1986-present
South Branch Kishwaukee River         13.3              10.45      1940-present
    at Fairdale, Ill.
St. Joseph Creek at Lisle, Ill.       12.89             11.30      1989-present
Spring Brook at Forest Preserve       12.59             11.24      1992-present
at Warrenville, Ill.
Spring Brook at 87th Street at        10.77              7.68      1988-present
    Naperville, Ill.
West Branch Dupage River at           12.78*             9.92      1989-present
    Naperville, Ill.
West Branch Dupage River at            6.39              5.85      1969-present
    Warrenville, Ill.

* --  indicates river still rising
The peak discharges at Long Run at Lemont, Ill., and South Branch Kishwaukee at Fairdale, Ill. approximately equaled or exceeded the 100-year flood discharge (the discharge with a 1-percent chance of occurring).

USGS personnel measure streams throughout Illinois in order to obtain accurate streamflow data for use by agencies such as the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Current information about USGS flood-monitoring efforts in Illinois is available on the World Wide Web at http://il.water.usgs.gov/pub/floodinfo/. Information on current stream heights is available at http://il.water.usgs.gov/swr/IL/.

As the Nation's largest water-information agency, the USGS monitors the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources at more than 45,000 sites, including 210 sites in Illinois.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For further information for Illinois, contact Robert Holmes, Acting Operations Chief, or Stephen Blanchard, District Chief , of the USGS Water Resources Division office in Urbana, telephone (217) 344-0037.)

Data || Projects || Publications || USGS Info || Feedback
US Geological Survey || Water Resources of Illinois || Water Resources of the United States

This page was written by Bob Homes, bholmes@usgs.gov, and was last modified on 7/18/96.