In the Loup River Basin on January 23, at a bridge north of Palmer (Merrick County) the Loup River is completely frozen over with the exception of a small open channel along the north bank. The ice is clear in color with no snow cover. No decay was noted. Below at the Hwy. 14 bridge near Fullerton, a large continuous channel has opened up. Much ice is still in place and appears to be 6" to 10" thick. Some floating ice was noted. In the Monroe area on January 24, a small open channel (10-15%) was noted. The Loup power canal was taking 2,000 cfs and bypassing about 800 cfs.

As observed on January 23, the Elkhorn River at Nickerson was frozen over with a small open channel. Upstream from the confluence with the Elkhorn, Maple Creek had much debris present which could cause problems during breakup. The Elkhorn River upstream at the Hwy. 30 bridge had a small open channel but there was much water floating on top of the ice. Downstream from the bridge there was a small open channel in the center of the river. Water that had been flowing on top of the ice had now frozen. Below at the Hwy. 36 bridge an open channel was present. Shore ice had fallen about one foot. At the Hwy. 64 bridge, the Elkhorn River had an open channel and the shore ice had also fallen about one foot. At the Hwy. 92 bridge conditions had not changed from the previous report with some new ice from the prior melt. The Lower Platte River side of the confluence with the Elkhorn was totally ice covered. The Elkhorn portion had an open channel 20'-40' wide and about 1,500' long. Downstream from Columbus on January 24, a small open channel (3%) was reported at the Hwy. 15 bridge near Schuyler. The Lower Platte River at North Bend on January 21, 1997, was completely ice covered with some small open pools. The ice thickness as measured by the USGS had an average depth of 1.4' with a maximum depth of 2.3'. In the Fremont area on January 23, the river at the Hwy. 77 bridge was completely ice covered with some water flowing on top of the ice. The ice which was in good shape appeared to be higher on the south bank than it was along the north bank. Below Fremont and three miles upstream from the Hwy. 64 bridge conditions were unchanged except there was frozen water on top of the ice cover. At the Hwy. 92 bridge there was a long open lead in each channel of the Lower Platte River. Five to fifteen feet of shore ice was still present in each channel. The open leads extended some distance below the bridge. Conditions were unchanged 3 miles upstream from the Hwy. 6 bridge.

At the Hwy. 6 bridge the Lower Platte River on January 22, was still ice covered, but some cracking was noted. On January 23, there was a small open channel on the Cass County side at the Interstate 80 bridge. This channel extended downstream to limit of sight. The intact ice was cracked and there was no signs of decay. Color was dirty brown in places from blowing dust. At the South Bend railroad bridge the small channel continued. There was a small open lead on the Sarpy County side. Downstream at the Hwy. 50 bridge near Louisville more open channel was noted. Snow cover had melted and decay of the intact ice was reported. Some refreezing was observed and ice slabs were about 8"-10" thick. Below Louisville in the Cedar Creek area a good open channel on the Sarpy County side was reported. At the Hwy. 75 bridge there was a good open channel. Much wood debris was noted at the Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Railroad bridges.

The Missouri River on January 23, 1997. had about 20% floating ice above Council Bluffs. Gavins Point releases averaged 26,000 cfs.