Levisa Fork at Prestonsburg, 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 03209800 sits on the Levisa Fork and reads everything draining 1,702 square miles of the Lower Levisa basin. Its datum sits 587 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow is on record here from 1964 to 2024, 24 years in all.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Two gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Levisa Fork at Pikeville, KY, reading 1,232 square miles. This gauge adds the 470 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Levisa Fork at Paintsville, KY at 2,144 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 79% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Levisa Fork runs a median of 1,045 cfs at this gauge across 24 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 2,700 cfs, and September the leanest at 345 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 41,700 cfs in 2021, and the lowest is 20 cfs in 1964.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1964 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 40 feet. NWS starts watching it at 22 feet. The highest crest on record is 48.8 feet, in January 1957.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge PSTK2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.