Briar Creek above Colony Rd at Charlotte, NC Flow & Water Level

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 0214645022 sits on Briar Creek and reads everything draining 19 square miles of the Lower Catawba basin. Its datum sits 598 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1996, 30 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Four gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Briar Creek at Providence Road at Charlotte, NC, reading 18 square miles. This gauge adds the 1.4 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Little Sugar C at Archdale Dr at Charlotte, NC at 43 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 45% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Little Sugar Creek at Pineville, NC.

Normal flows here

Briar Creek runs a median of 7.0 cfs at this gauge across 30 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 12 cfs, and October the leanest at 3.5 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 2,610 cfs in 1997, and the lowest is 0.2 cfs in 2002.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1996 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Briar Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 10 feet. NWS starts watching it at 9 feet. The highest crest on record is 16.1 feet, in August 2008.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge BCLN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.