Morgan Creek near Chapel Hill, 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 02097517 sits on Morgan Creek and reads everything draining 41 square miles of the Haw basin. Its datum sits 238 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1983, 43 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Three gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is University Lake at Intakes near Chapel Hill, NC, reading 30 square miles. This gauge adds the 11 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Jordan Lake at Buoy 9 near Farrington, NC at 250 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 16% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Haw River near Moncure, NC and Cape Fear River at Lillington, NC.

Normal flows here

Morgan Creek runs a median of 18 cfs at this gauge across 43 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 39 cfs, and July the leanest at 14 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 2,740 cfs in 2018, and the lowest is 0.6 cfs in 1983.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1983 to 2025. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Morgan Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 11 feet. NWS starts watching it at 10 feet. The highest crest on record is 12.8 feet, in August 2024.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge MGCN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.