Drowning Creek near Hoffman, 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 02133500 sits on Drowning Creek and reads everything draining 183 square miles of the Lumber basin. Its datum sits 269 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1940, 86 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 Lumber River near Maxton, NC at 365 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 50% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

Drowning Creek runs a median of 159 cfs at this gauge across 86 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 305 cfs, and September the leanest at 102 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 8,530 cfs in 1945, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2002.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1940 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Drowning Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 8 feet. NWS starts watching it at 7 feet. The highest crest on record is 11.5 feet, in September 2018.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge HOFN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.