Hardware River below Briery Run near Scottsville, VA 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 02030000 sits on the Hardware River and reads everything draining 116 square miles of the Middle James-Buffalo basin. Its datum sits 295 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1939, 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 James River at Cartersville, VA at 6,252 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 2% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Hardware River runs a median of 82 cfs at this gauge across 86 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 141 cfs, and September the leanest at 35 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 28,400 cfs in 1969, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2002.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1939 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 31 feet, in August 1969.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge HWRV2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.