Catawba River below Catawba, SC 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 02147020 sits on the Catawba River and reads everything draining 3,540 square miles of the Lower Catawba basin. Its datum sits 441 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1992, 33 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Catawba River below Lake Wylie Dam Fewell Island, SC sits immediately upstream, so dam releases rather than rainfall set the flow here. Four gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Catawba River near Rock Hill, SC, reading 3,050 square miles. This gauge adds the 490 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Lake Wateree Tailrace above Camden, SC at 4,740 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 75% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Catawba River runs a median of 2,910 cfs at this gauge across 33 years of record. January is the fullest month at a median 5,590 cfs, and October the leanest at 1,800 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 98,900 cfs in 2024, and the lowest is 451 cfs in 2004.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1992 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Catawba River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 23 feet. NWS starts watching it at 20 feet. The highest crest on record is 24.7 feet, in February 2020.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge CTBS1. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.