Kentucky River at Lock 6 near Salvisa, 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 03287000 sits on the Kentucky River and reads everything draining 5,102 square miles of the Lower Kentucky basin. Only 5,001 square miles of that contributes flow in a normal year; the rest is closed basin that does not drain to the river. Its datum sits 487 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1977, 44 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Two gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Kentucky River at Lock 7 at Highbridge, KY, reading 5,036 square miles. Downstream the next reading comes from Kentucky River at Lock 5 near Tyrone, KY at 5,225 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 98% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Kentucky River at Lock 4 at Frankfort, KY.

Normal flows here

The Kentucky River runs a median of 3,140 cfs at this gauge across 44 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 9,930 cfs, and September the leanest at 828 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 125,000 cfs in 1979, and the lowest is 83 cfs in 1984.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1977 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 49 feet, in December 1978.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge SLVK2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.