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Little River at Manchester, NC Flow & Water Level

North Carolina · USGS gauge 02103000 · live data

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About this gauge

USGS gauge 02103000 sits on the Little River and reads everything draining 348 square miles of the Upper Cape Fear basin. Its datum sits 123 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1939, 36 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 Cape Fear River at Fayetteville, NC at 4,395 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 8% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Little River runs a median of 210 cfs at this gauge across 36 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 467 cfs, and June the leanest at 132 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 15,500 cfs in 2018, and the lowest is 19 cfs in 2015.

Median flow by month
MonthMedian flowShare of annual median
Jan461 cfs220%
Feb447 cfs213%
Mar467 cfs223%
Apr340 cfs162%
May178 cfs85%
Jun132 cfs63%
Jul157 cfs75%
Aug166 cfs79%
Sep136 cfs65%
Oct171 cfs82%
Nov233 cfs111%
Dec358 cfs171%

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 Little River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 18 feet. NWS starts watching it at 16 feet. The highest crest on record is 38.3 feet, in September 2018.

NWS flood categories
CategoryGage height
Action16 ft
Minor flooding18 ft
Moderate flooding24 ft
Major flooding27 ft
Highest crests on record
WhenCrest
September 201838.3 ft
October 201632.2 ft
October 201631.4 ft
September 201631.2 ft
September 194529 ft

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge MANN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.

Nearby river gauges

Live streamflow and gage height: USGS gauge 02103000. Percentile context computed against the gauge's period of record. Not for navigation.

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