Mcdowell Creek near Charlotte, NC Csw10 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 0214266000 sits on Mcdowell Creek and reads everything draining 26 square miles of the Upper Catawba basin. Its datum sits 645 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1997, 30 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

One gauged site sits upstream of here. The closest is Mcdowell Creek near Huntersville, NC, reading 10 square miles. This gauge adds the 16 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Mountain Island Lake on Catawba River near Mnt Holly, NC at 1,856 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 1% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Catawba River Dnstrm Deck Mountain Is Dam near Mountain Is, NC.

Normal flows here

Mcdowell Creek runs a median of 9.9 cfs at this gauge across 30 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 17 cfs, and September the leanest at 5.3 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 2,260 cfs in 2024, and the lowest is 0.5 cfs in 2015.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1997 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Mcdowell Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 16 feet. NWS starts watching it at 15 feet. The highest crest on record is 15.2 feet, in August 2008.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge MCDN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.