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Sangamon River at Riverton

Highest listed crest 31.52 ftFlood stage 23.0 ft123 crests since 1934

The Sangamon River at Riverton crested at major flood stage 3 times among the 123 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1934 to 2026. The highest, 31.52 ft on May 19, 1943, was major flooding, 8.52 feet above flood stage. 3 other gauges on the Sangamon River crested above flood stage within a week of it, 2 at their own highest listed crest.

The gauge

Highest listed crest
31.52 ft
May 19, 1943; 68,700 cubic feet per second
Flood stage
23.0 ft
Major flooding from 29.0 ft
Crests at major
3
72nd of 177 gauges in Illinois
Most recent flood crest
May 6, 2017
23.75 ft, minor flooding
Location
Sangamon County
Near Springfield (6.3 mi), Chatham (14.0 mi)

Flood stages

The thresholds the National Weather Service uses for this gauge today, and how many listed crests reached each.

Flood categories, Sangamon River at Riverton
Action stage17.082Jun 25, 2026The level at which the NWS or its partners begin to take action
Flood stage (minor)23.017May 6, 2017Minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat
Moderate flood stage26.03Jun 8, 2008Some inundation of structures and roads near the stream
Major flood stage29.03Dec 31, 2015Extensive inundation of structures and roads

Every listed crest

123 crests from 1934 to 2026. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.

Listed crests at the Sangamon River at Riverton, 1934 to 2026 010203040ft Flood stage 23.0 ftMajor 29.0 ft Sep 30, 1934: 15.59 ft, below flood stage; 2,540 cubic feet per secondMay 16, 1935: 18.98 ft, action stage; 12,700 cubic feet per secondFeb 28, 1936: 19.38 ft, action stage; 13,300 cubic feet per secondJan 17, 1937: 19.63 ft, action stage; 13,800 cubic feet per secondApr 10, 1938: 21.86 ft, action stage; 21,000 cubic feet per secondMar 15, 1939: 23.36 ft, minor flooding; 25,900 cubic feet per secondMay 6, 1940: 10.60 ft, below flood stage; 2,840 cubic feet per secondJun 16, 1941: 13.13 ft, below flood stage; 4,260 cubic feet per secondFeb 8, 1942: 20.83 ft, action stage; 17,400 cubic feet per secondMay 19, 1943: 31.52 ft, major flooding; 68,700 cubic feet per secondApr 25, 1944: 23.89 ft, minor flooding; 30,600 cubic feet per secondApr 5, 1945: 20.36 ft, action stage; 17,600 cubic feet per secondJan 8, 1946: 17.59 ft, action stage; 9,400 cubic feet per secondJun 9, 1947: 19.94 ft, action stage; 16,100 cubic feet per secondMar 27, 1948: 19.07 ft, action stage; 13,700 cubic feet per secondJan 30, 1949: 18.70 ft, action stage; 12,500 cubic feet per secondJan 16, 1950: 21.69 ft, action stage; 21,800 cubic feet per secondJun 29, 1951: 23.46 ft, minor flooding; 29,000 cubic feet per secondApr 15, 1952: 17.73 ft, action stage; 9,600 cubic feet per secondJun 12, 1954: 8.85 ft, below flood stage; 1,830 cubic feet per secondMay 29, 1955: 13.49 ft, below flood stage; 4,520 cubic feet per secondJun 3, 1956: 17.04 ft, action stage; 8,200 cubic feet per secondJul 1, 1957: 21.94 ft, action stage; 22,600 cubic feet per secondAug 4, 1958: 21.36 ft, action stage; 20,600 cubic feet per secondFeb 14, 1959: 21.33 ft, action stage; 20,300 cubic feet per secondJun 23, 1960: 20.63 ft, action stage; 18,200 cubic feet per secondMay 11, 1961: 21.21 ft, action stage; 20,000 cubic feet per secondMar 23, 1962: 20.77 ft, action stage; 18,800 cubic feet per secondMar 12, 1963: 17.43 ft, action stage; 9,060 cubic feet per secondApr 24, 1964: 19.83 ft, action stage; 15,800 cubic feet per secondJun 5, 1965: 19.25 ft, action stage; 14,200 cubic feet per secondApr 27, 1966: 19.49 ft, action stage; 14,900 cubic feet per secondDec 12, 1966: 18.69 ft, action stage; 12,500 cubic feet per secondMay 27, 1968: 22.06 ft, action stage; 23,200 cubic feet per secondApr 18, 1969: 20.35 ft, action stage; 17,400 cubic feet per secondJun 18, 1970: 22.09 ft, action stage; 23,400 cubic feet per secondFeb 5, 1971: 16.95 ft, below flood stage; 8,100 cubic feet per secondMar 12, 1972: 20.61 ft, action stage; 18,200 cubic feet per secondApr 24, 1973: 23.00 ft, minor flooding; 27,000 cubic feet per secondFeb 27, 1975: 19.53 ft, action stage; 15,000 cubic feet per secondFeb 22, 1976: 17.63 ft, action stage; 9,460 cubic feet per secondMay 8, 1977: 23.49 ft, minor flooding; 29,000 cubic feet per secondMay 14, 1978: 21.52 ft, action stage; 21,100 cubic feet per secondApr 12, 1979: 26.78 ft, moderate flooding; 44,200 cubic feet per secondMay 19, 1981: 22.10 ft, action stage; 19,600 cubic feet per secondFeb 22, 1982: 24.00 ft, minor flooding; 28,700 cubic feet per secondMay 2, 1983: 25.42 ft, minor flooding; 38,800 cubic feet per secondNov 21, 1985: 24.33 ft, minor flooding; 26,100 cubic feet per secondDec 3, 1986: 15.75 ft, below flood stage; 6,090 cubic feet per secondJun 1, 1989: 15.70 ft, below flood stage; 6,050 cubic feet per secondMay 20, 1990: 23.95 ft, minor flooding; 24,700 cubic feet per secondDec 31, 1990: 23.74 ft, minor flooding; 23,900 cubic feet per secondAug 2, 1992: 19.76 ft, action stage; 14,000 cubic feet per secondJan 6, 1993: 21.41 ft, action stage; 18,200 cubic feet per secondApr 13, 1994: 28.28 ft, moderate flooding; 46,300 cubic feet per secondMay 21, 1995: 22.74 ft, action stage; 20,400 cubic feet per secondMay 10, 1996: 25.65 ft, minor flooding; 31,900 cubic feet per secondMay 29, 1996: 21.35 ft, action stageMar 3, 1997: 19.06 ft, action stage; 11,700 cubic feet per secondMar 24, 1998: 20.09 ft, action stageMar 30, 1998: 19.27 ft, action stageMay 8, 1998: 20.19 ft, action stageJun 20, 1998: 21.85 ft, action stage; 19,000 cubic feet per secondFeb 10, 1999: 18.62 ft, action stage; 10,700 cubic feet per secondApr 19, 1999: 18.16 ft, action stageJun 26, 2000: 13.64 ft, below flood stage; 4,570 cubic feet per secondJun 8, 2001: 22.72 ft, action stage; 21,800 cubic feet per secondMay 14, 2002: 30.07 ft, major flooding; 51,800 cubic feet per secondMay 12, 2003: 20.21 ft, action stage; 12,800 cubic feet per secondMar 31, 2004: 18.77 ft, action stage; 11,000 cubic feet per secondDec 3, 2004: 19.33 ft, action stageDec 10, 2004: 19.71 ft, action stageJan 15, 2005: 25.30 ft, minor flooding; 31,800 cubic feet per secondFeb 16, 2005: 18.30 ft, action stageApr 8, 2006: 18.77 ft, action stage; 11,000 cubic feet per secondFeb 27, 2007: 19.51 ft, action stage; 12,700 cubic feet per secondFeb 10, 2008: 22.91 ft, action stage; 22,488 cubic feet per secondJun 8, 2008: 27.17 ft, moderate flooding; 33,400 cubic feet per secondMay 19, 2009: 22.40 ft, action stage; 17,000 cubic feet per secondNov 1, 2009: 23.23 ft, minor flooding; 24,000 cubic feet per secondJun 25, 2010: 23.05 ft, minor floodingApr 28, 2011: 20.52 ft, action stage; 14,823 cubic feet per secondJun 20, 2011: 22.31 ft, action stage; 25,000 cubic feet per secondMay 2, 2012: 13.06 ft, below flood stage; 4,220 cubic feet per secondApr 22, 2013: 24.83 ft, minor flooding; 29,800 cubic feet per secondJun 2, 2013: 23.48 ft, minor flooding; 24,500 cubic feet per secondFeb 22, 2014: 19.98 ft, action stage; 13,800 cubic feet per secondJul 29, 2015: 20.83 ft, action stage; 16,900 cubic feet per secondDec 31, 2015: 30.13 ft, major flooding; 58,800 cubic feet per secondMay 6, 2017: 23.75 ft, minor flooding; 23,500 cubic feet per secondFeb 27, 2018: 16.66 ft, below flood stage; 7,090 cubic feet per secondJun 16, 2018: 18.15 ft, action stage; 9,660 cubic feet per secondJan 2, 2019: 20.63 ft, action stage; 15,300 cubic feet per secondJan 25, 2019: 18.46 ft, action stage; 10,300 cubic feet per secondFeb 10, 2019: 18.03 ft, action stage; 9,430 cubic feet per secondMar 16, 2019: 19.28 ft, action stage; 12,000 cubic feet per secondApr 4, 2019: 18.50 ft, action stage; 10,300 cubic feet per secondApr 20, 2019: 16.92 ft, below flood stage; 7,490 cubic feet per secondMay 2, 2019: 21.87 ft, action stage; 18,800 cubic feet per secondMay 24, 2019: 16.49 ft, below flood stage; 6,840 cubic feet per secondJun 23, 2019: 22.96 ft, action stage; 22,300 cubic feet per secondJan 14, 2020: 22.23 ft, action stage; 19,900 cubic feet per secondFeb 13, 2020: 16.13 ft, below flood stage; 6,570 cubic feet per secondFeb 20, 2020: 16.24 ft, below flood stage; 6,650 cubic feet per secondMar 21, 2020: 19.42 ft, action stage; 12,300 cubic feet per secondMay 1, 2020: 21.96 ft, action stage; 18,100 cubic feet per secondMay 18, 2020: 22.85 ft, action stage; 22,000 cubic feet per secondMar 21, 2021: 16.72 ft, below flood stage; 7,190 cubic feet per secondMay 20, 2021: 20.37 ft, action stage; 14,600 cubic feet per secondJul 3, 2021: 20.45 ft, action stage; 15,200 cubic feet per secondOct 31, 2021: 18.65 ft, action stage; 11,000 cubic feet per secondFeb 23, 2022: 19.47 ft, action stage; 12,400 cubic feet per secondApr 5, 2022: 18.88 ft, action stage; 11,100 cubic feet per secondMay 7, 2022: 15.99 ft, below flood stage; 6,470 cubic feet per secondJul 10, 2022: 18.30 ft, action stage; 9,950 cubic feet per secondMar 5, 2023: 18.33 ft, action stage; 10,000 cubic feet per secondMay 9, 2023: 18.40 ft, action stage; 10,100 cubic feet per secondMay 16, 2023: 16.65 ft, below flood stage; 7,090 cubic feet per secondJan 31, 2024: 18.78 ft, action stageApr 4, 2024: 17.91 ft, action stage; 9,210 cubic feet per secondMay 1, 2024: 17.96 ft, action stage; 9,290 cubic feet per secondApr 30, 2026: 18.03 ft, action stage; 9,430 cubic feet per secondJun 25, 2026: 17.55 ft, action stage; 8,560 cubic feet per second Highest, 31.52 ft, May 19, 1943 19401960198020002020

Crests at or above flood stage, by decade

Crests at or above flood stage per decade, Sangamon River at Riverton 1930s: 1 1940s: 2 1950s: 1 1960s: 0 1970s: 3 1980s: 3 1990s: 4 2000s: 4 2010s: 5 5 2020s: 0 1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
  1. These are the crests the local National Weather Service office lists for the gauge: the highest on record and recent crests. Lesser floods between them may be missing, so counts by decade are a floor.
  2. Categories use today's flood stages. Levees, dams and channel changes since a crest can make old and new stages not directly comparable.
  3. 22 crests measured on an earlier gauge datum are left out: 26.52 ft on May 9, 1908; 24.31 ft on Jul 15, 1909; 21.20 ft on Jan 21, 1910; 27.22 ft on Sep 30, 1911; 25.30 ft on Mar 23, 1912; 26.85 ft on Aug 24, 1915; and more.

Highest crests

The 50 highest of 123 listed crests.

Highest listed crests, Sangamon River at Riverton
1May 19, 194331.52+8.52Major68,700
2Dec 31, 201530.13+7.13Major58,800
3May 14, 200230.07+7.07Major51,800
4Apr 13, 199428.28+5.28Moderate46,300
5Jun 8, 200827.17+4.17Moderate33,400
6Apr 12, 197926.78+3.78Moderate44,200
7May 10, 199625.65+2.65Minor31,900
8May 2, 198325.42+2.42Minor38,800
9Jan 15, 200525.30+2.30Minor31,800
10Apr 22, 201324.83+1.83Minor29,800
11Nov 21, 198524.33+1.33Minor26,100
12Feb 22, 198224.00+1.00Minor28,700
13May 20, 199023.95+0.95Minor24,700
14Apr 25, 194423.89+0.89Minor30,600
15May 6, 201723.75+0.75Minor23,500
16Dec 31, 199023.74+0.74Minor23,900
17May 8, 197723.49+0.49Minor29,000
18Jun 2, 201323.48+0.48Minor24,500
19Jun 29, 195123.46+0.46Minor29,000
20Mar 15, 193923.36+0.36Minor25,900
21Nov 1, 200923.23+0.23Minor24,000
22Jun 25, 201023.05+0.05Minor—
23Apr 24, 197323.000.00Minor27,000
24Jun 23, 201922.96−0.04Action22,300
25Feb 10, 200822.91−0.09Action22,488
26May 18, 202022.85−0.15Action22,000
27May 21, 199522.74−0.26Action20,400
28Jun 8, 200122.72−0.28Action21,800
29May 19, 200922.40−0.60Action17,000
30Jun 20, 201122.31−0.69Action25,000
31Jan 14, 202022.23−0.77Action19,900
32May 19, 198122.10−0.90Action19,600
33Jun 18, 197022.09−0.91Action23,400
34May 27, 196822.06−0.94Action23,200
35May 1, 202021.96−1.04Action18,100
36Jul 1, 195721.94−1.06Action22,600
37May 2, 201921.87−1.13Action18,800
38Apr 10, 193821.86−1.14Action21,000
39Jun 20, 199821.85−1.15Action19,000
40Jan 16, 195021.69−1.31Action21,800
41May 14, 197821.52−1.48Action21,100
42Jan 6, 199321.41−1.59Action18,200
43Aug 4, 195821.36−1.64Action20,600
44May 29, 199621.35−1.65Action—
45Feb 14, 195921.33−1.67Action20,300
46May 11, 196121.21−1.79Action20,000
47Feb 8, 194220.83−2.17Action17,400
48Jul 29, 201520.83−2.17Action16,900
49Mar 23, 196220.77−2.23Action18,800
50Jun 23, 196020.63−2.37Action18,200

The worst floods along the Sangamon River

For this gauge's highest crests, the other gauges on the Sangamon River that crested above flood stage within a week.

May 19, 1943: 31.52 ft here, major flooding

  • OakfordIL · May 20, 1943 · 478.51 ft · Major · its highest
  • PetersburgIL · May 20, 1943 · 33.90 ft · Major · its highest
  • MonticelloIL · May 18, 1943 · 17.67 ft · Moderate

December 31, 2015: 30.13 ft here, major flooding

  • ChandlervilleIL · Jan 2, 2016 · 463.20 ft · Major · its highest
  • OakfordIL · Jan 1, 2016 · 477.67 ft · Moderate
  • PetersburgIL · Dec 31, 2015 · 30.55 ft · Moderate
  • MonticelloIL · Dec 29, 2015 · 18.56 ft · Moderate

May 14, 2002: 30.07 ft here, major flooding

  • ChandlervilleIL · May 16, 2002 · 462.70 ft · Major
  • OakfordIL · May 15, 2002 · 476.73 ft · Moderate
  • PetersburgIL · May 14, 2002 · 30.75 ft · Moderate
  • MonticelloIL · May 14, 2002 · 15.77 ft · Minor

Gauges on the Sangamon River

Flood gauges sharing the river's name, linked within 80 miles of one another.

Flood gauges on the Sangamon River
MonticelloIL13.019.06 ft, Apr 13, 19940
PetersburgIL23.033.90 ft, May 20, 19431
Riverton this gaugeIL23.031.52 ft, May 19, 19433
ChandlervilleIL456.6463.20 ft, Jan 2, 20162
OakfordIL471.0478.51 ft, May 20, 19431

Sangamon County: every hazard · River floods across the country · Illinois

NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge RVTI2, retrieved October 30, 2026. Stages in feet on the gauge's own datum, not elevation. Crests are as the National Weather Service lists them; preliminary values may be revised.