Rapidan River near Ruckersville, VA 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 01665500 sits on the Rapidan River and reads everything draining 115 square miles of the Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock basin. Its datum sits 439 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1943, 80 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 Rapidan River near Culpeper, VA at 468 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 25% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Rapidan River runs a median of 104 cfs at this gauge across 80 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 174 cfs, and September the leanest at 30 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 29,400 cfs in 1995, and the lowest is 0.5 cfs in 2002.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1943 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Rapidan River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 14 feet. NWS starts watching it at 12 feet. The highest crest on record is 31.3 feet, in June 1995.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge RUCV2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.