Kentucky River at Lock 11 near College Hill, KY 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 03282290 sits on the Kentucky River and reads everything draining 3,219 square miles of the Lower Kentucky basin. Its datum sits 573 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2002, 23 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Two gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Kentucky River at Lock 12 near Irvine, KY, reading 2,916 square miles. This gauge adds the 303 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Kentucky River at Lock 10 near Winchester, KY at 3,955 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 81% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Kentucky River at Lock 9 at Valley View, KY.

Normal flows here

The Kentucky River runs a median of 1,685 cfs at this gauge across 23 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 6,500 cfs, and September the leanest at 580 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 85,300 cfs in 2021, and the lowest is 44 cfs in 2007.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2002 to 2025. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The highest crest on record is 40.6 feet, in March 2021.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge CHLK2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.