Back Creek near Dundee, 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 02056650 sits on Back Creek and reads everything draining 56 square miles of the Upper Roanoke basin. Its datum sits 822 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1974, 51 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

No gauged site sits above this one on the mainstem, so this is the first published reading on the river. Downstream the next reading comes from Smith Mountain Lake at Dam near Penhook, VA at 1,016 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 5% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

Back Creek runs a median of 37 cfs at this gauge across 51 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 67 cfs, and September the leanest at 14 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 4,000 cfs in 2019, and the lowest is 0.1 cfs in 2008.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1974 to 2025. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

NWS action stage at this gauge is 10 feet. The highest crest on record is 25.1 feet, in November 1985.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge BCKV2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.