TidalMapCattail Creek near Glenwood, MD Water Level Today
NWS river forecast
| When | Stage | Flow |
|---|
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 01591400 sits on Cattail Creek and reads everything draining 23 square miles of the Patuxent basin. Its datum sits 374 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1978, 47 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 Patuxent River below Brighton Dam near Brighton MD at 79 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 29% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Patuxent River near Laurel, MD and Patuxent River near Bowie, MD.
Normal flows here
Cattail Creek runs a median of 18 cfs at this gauge across 47 years of record. April is the fullest month at a median 27 cfs, and September the leanest at 8.7 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 1,230 cfs in 1996, and the lowest is 0.1 cfs in 2002.
| Month | Median flow | Share of annual median |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 cfs | 122% |
| Feb | 24 cfs | 133% |
| Mar | 26 cfs | 144% |
| Apr | 27 cfs | 150% |
| May | 23 cfs | 128% |
| Jun | 17 cfs | 94% |
| Jul | 12 cfs | 67% |
| Aug | 10 cfs | 56% |
| Sep | 8.7 cfs | 48% |
| Oct | 11 cfs | 61% |
| Nov | 14 cfs | 78% |
| Dec | 19 cfs | 106% |
Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1978 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.
Flood stages and record crests
The highest crest on record is 9.9 feet, in September 1979.
| When | Crest |
|---|---|
| September 1979 | 9.9 ft |
| January 1996 | 9 ft |
| December 2003 | 8.4 ft |
| October 1990 | 8.4 ft |
| May 2018 | 8.4 ft |
Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge GLNM2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.
Nearby river gauges
- Patuxent River near Unity, MD
- Patuxent River below Brighton Dam near Brighton MD
- Hawlings River near Sandy Spring, MD
- Paint Branch Tributary near Colesville, MD
- Turkey Branch near Rockville, MD
- Northwest Branch Anacostia River near Colesville, MD
- Little Seneca Creek Tributary at Brink, MD
- Little Seneca Creek Tributary near Clarksburg, MD
- Morgan Run near Louisville, MD
- Little Patuxent River at Guilford, MD
- Patuxent River near Laurel, MD
- Little Seneca Creek Tributary near Germantown, MD
Live streamflow and gage height: USGS gauge 01591400. Percentile context computed against the gauge's period of record. Not for navigation.
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