Long Creek near Bessemer City, NC Flow & Water Level

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 02144000 sits on Long Creek and reads everything draining 32 square miles of the South Fork Catawba basin. Its datum sits 706 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1953, 74 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 South Fork Catawba River at Dam at Spencer Mnt, NC at 622 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 5% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to South Fork Catawba River at Lowell, NC.

Normal flows here

Long Creek runs a median of 18 cfs at this gauge across 74 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 35 cfs, and September the leanest at 7.3 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 2,940 cfs in 1972, and the lowest is 0.1 cfs in 2002.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1953 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Long Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 9.5 feet. NWS starts watching it at 8.5 feet. The highest crest on record is 9.1 feet, in October 1971.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge BESN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.