Levisa Fork at Paintsville, 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 03212500 sits on the Levisa Fork and reads everything draining 2,144 square miles of the Lower Levisa basin. Its datum sits 566 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow is on record here from 1969 to 2024, 55 years in all.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

One gauged site sits upstream of here. The closest is Levisa Fork at Prestonsburg, KY, reading 1,702 square miles. This gauge adds the 442 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Big Sandy River at Louisa, KY at 3,897 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 55% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Levisa Fork runs a median of 1,280 cfs at this gauge across 55 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 3,500 cfs, and September the leanest at 457 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 42,000 cfs in 1977, and the lowest is 98 cfs in 1969.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1969 to 2024. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median. USGS stopped publishing a daily flow record at this gauge, so these are historical norms, not a baseline for current readings.

Flood stages and record crests

The Levisa Fork reaches flood stage at this gauge at 35 feet. NWS starts watching it at 28 feet. The highest crest on record is 46.6 feet, in February 1862.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge PTVK2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.