Roanoke River at Roanoke Rapids, 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 02080500 sits on the Roanoke River and reads everything draining 8,384 square miles of the Lower Roanoke basin. Its datum sits 43 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1964, 63 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Lake Gaston (Little River Channel) near Henrico, NC sits immediately upstream, so dam releases rather than rainfall set the flow here. Four gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Lake Gaston (Little River Channel) near Henrico, NC, reading 8,359 square miles. Downstream the next reading comes from Roanoke River at Halifax, NC at 8,450 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 99% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Roanoke River near Scotland Neck, NC.

Normal flows here

The Roanoke River runs a median of 6,380 cfs at this gauge across 63 years of record. January is the fullest month at a median 8,530 cfs, and October the leanest at 2,720 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 36,200 cfs in 2020, and the lowest is 818 cfs in 1971.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1964 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Roanoke River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 9 feet. The highest crest on record is 39 feet, in August 1940.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge RRDN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.