Buffalo River near Flat Woods, TN 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 03604000 sits on the Buffalo River and reads everything draining 447 square miles of the Buffalo basin. Its datum sits 514 feet above sea level NGVD29. Daily flow has been on record here since 1920, 106 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 Buffalo River below Lobelville, TN at 702 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 64% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Buffalo River runs a median of 400 cfs at this gauge across 106 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 860 cfs, and September the leanest at 212 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 75,800 cfs in 1991, and the lowest is 65 cfs in 1925.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1920 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Buffalo River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 22 feet. NWS starts watching it at 15 feet. The highest crest on record is 32.7 feet, in May 2010.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge FLTT1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.