Poor Fork at Cumberland, 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 03400500 sits on the Poor Fork and reads everything draining 82 square miles of the Upper Cumberland-Lake Cumberland basin. Its datum sits 1,410 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1940, 67 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 Cumberland River near Harlan, KY at 374 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 22% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Poor Fork runs a median of 78 cfs at this gauge across 67 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 213 cfs, and October the leanest at 20 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 6,750 cfs in 1957, and the lowest is 2.5 cfs in 1948.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1940 to 2025. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Poor Fork reaches flood stage at this gauge at 12 feet. NWS starts watching it at 9.5 feet. The highest crest on record is 15.9 feet, in April 1977.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge CMBK2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.