Ohio River at Ashland, KY Water Level Today

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 03216000 sits on the Ohio River and reads everything draining 60,750 square miles of the Little Scioto-Tygarts basin. Its datum sits 480 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow is on record here from 1940 to 1975, 20 years in all.

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 Ohio River at Greenup Dam near Greenup, KY at 62,000 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 98% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Ohio River runs a median of 65,000 cfs at this gauge across 20 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 152,000 cfs, and September the leanest at 14,000 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 583,000 cfs in 1948, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 1968.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1940 to 1975. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median. USGS stopped publishing a daily flow record at this gauge, so these are historical norms, not a baseline for current readings.

Flood stages and record crests

The Ohio River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 52 feet. NWS starts watching it at 50 feet. The highest crest on record is 74.2 feet, in January 1937.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge ASHK2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.