Back Creek at Sunrise, VA Water Level Today

NWS river forecast

Forecast from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service. Issued a few times a day and only while a forecast is active. Not for navigation.

Last 30 days

About this gauge

USGS gauge 02011470 sits on Back Creek and reads everything draining 76 square miles of the Upper James basin. Its datum sits 1,968 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1985, 42 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Back Creek at Vepco Dam near Sunrise, VA sits immediately upstream, so dam releases rather than rainfall set the flow here. Two gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Back Creek at Vepco Dam near Sunrise, VA, reading 73 square miles. This gauge adds the 2.4 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Back Creek near Mountain Grove, VA at 134 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 56% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Jackson River below Gathright Dam near Hot Springs, VA and Jackson River at Falling Spring, VA. It then enters Lake Moomaw (North) near Hot Springs, VA, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

Back Creek runs a median of 40 cfs at this gauge across 42 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 133 cfs, and September the leanest at 15 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 4,890 cfs in 1996, and the lowest is 1.7 cfs in 1999.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1985 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Back Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 8 feet. NWS starts watching it at 6 feet. The highest crest on record is 12.2 feet, in November 2003.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge SUNV2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.