Mcdowell Creek near Huntersville, 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 02142654 sits on Mcdowell Creek and reads everything draining 10 square miles of the Upper Catawba basin. Its datum sits 659 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2006, 20 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 Mcdowell Creek near Charlotte, NC Csw10 at 26 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 39% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Catawba River Dnstrm Deck Mountain Is Dam near Mountain Is, NC. It then enters Mountain Island Lake on Catawba River near Mnt Holly, NC, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

Mcdowell Creek runs a median of 4.5 cfs at this gauge across 20 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 7.5 cfs, and October the leanest at 2.6 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 1,260 cfs in 2024, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2020.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2006 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 14 feet. NWS starts watching it at 12 feet. The highest crest on record is 16 feet, in June 2013.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge MDHN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.