{"id":454019,"date":"2026-10-02T06:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T06:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/454019\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T06:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T06:22:14","slug":"rio-grande-crests-near-record-level-in-el-paso-after-hurricane-polo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/454019\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Grande crests near record level in El Paso after Hurricane Polo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rio Grande in El Paso<\/a> crested at 9.65 feet, one of the highest levels recorded at the Courchesne Bridge <\/a>gauge, according to data from the National Water Prediction Service.<\/a><\/p>\n

Heavy rain <\/a>from the remnants of Hurricane Polo <\/a>caused the Rio Grande to rise on Sept. 30, prompting a flood warning that urged people to stay away from the riverbanks.<\/p>\n

Jason Grzywacz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in El Paso, said the rise was striking because the riverbed had been dry.<\/p>\n

“It could be worse if we had water in the river,” he said, adding that the overnight crest was at moderate level flooding.<\/p>\n

La Llorona Park closed as floodwaters threaten visitors<\/p>\n

1 of 10<\/p>\n

A playground at La Llorona Park is surrounded by water from the Rio Grande after rising river levels prompted the closure of the park to the public in Las Cruces, N.M., on Sept. 30, 2026. Recent heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Polo caused the river to swell and flood portions of the riverside park. (Omar Ornelas\/El Paso Times)<\/p>\n

“It was already dried out, so pretty impressive that it would go up this much with rain,” Grzywacz said.<\/p>\n

The Rio Grande has since begun to recede, dropping to 9.2 feet by 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, Grzywacz said. Water is expected to continue a slow descent heading into Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 5-6.<\/p>\n

The highest recorded crest of the Rio Grande in El Paso was 11.20 feet in 1903, followed by 10.50 feet in 1912. During the 2006 flooding, the river crested at 9.28 feet, according to the National Water Prediction Service.<\/p>\n

Elephant Butte Reservoir rises, but water level remains lowSigns of drought, signs of hope at Elephant Butte<\/p>\n

1 of 8<\/p>\n

A drone photo shows Rattlesnake Island, at right, and the high-water marks etched into its shoreline at Elephant Butte Reservoir near Elephant Butte, N.M., on July 13, 2026. The visible water lines illustrate the reservoir’s fluctuating levels as water managers look to summer rainfall and stormwater runoff to help extend the irrigation season in southern New Mexico. (Omar Ornelas\/El Paso Times)<\/p>\n

Recent rain has raised the water level at Elephant Butte Reservoir nearly 7 feet, from 4,277.49 feet a week ago to 4,284.24 feet.<\/p>\n

Despite the increase, the reservoir is still only 2.5% full.<\/p>\n

Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com<\/a>, @NatassiaPaloma on X, natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma on Facebook.<\/p>\n

More: El Paso’s fall corn maze season is here: Where to go, what to pay<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Rio Grande crests near record level in El Paso after Hurricane Polo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rio Grande in El Paso crested at 9.65 feet, one of the highest levels recorded at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-454019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}