Mud Creek at Secondary Road 1503 near Balfour, 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 0344632850 sits on Mud Creek and reads everything draining 49 square miles of the Upper French Broad basin. Its datum sits 2,061 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2019, 7 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 French Broad River near Fletcher, NC at 640 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 8% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to French Broad River at Blue Ridge Pkwy at Bent Creek NC, French Broad River at Haywood Rd at Asheville, NC and French Broad River at Asheville, NC.

Normal flows here

Mud Creek runs a median of 79 cfs at this gauge across 7 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 116 cfs, and September the leanest at 46 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 11,800 cfs in 2024, and the lowest is 19 cfs in 2024.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2019 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Mud Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 14 feet. NWS starts watching it at 11.5 feet.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge MNMN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.