Long Creek near Paw Creek, 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 02142900 sits on Long Creek and reads everything draining 16 square miles of the Upper Catawba basin. Its datum sits 648 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1965, 61 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 Long Creek near Rhyne, NC at 32 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 52% of the water measured there. It then enters Catawba River below U.s Highways 29/74 at Belmont, NC, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

Long Creek runs a median of 5.7 cfs at this gauge across 61 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 13 cfs, and September the leanest at 2.5 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 1,600 cfs in 1977, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2002.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1965 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 12.5 feet. NWS starts watching it at 11 feet. The highest crest on record is 13.4 feet, in July 1997.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge LONN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.