Rocky River near Norwood, 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 02126000 sits on the Rocky River and reads everything draining 1,380 square miles of the Rocky basin. Its datum sits 202 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1930, 97 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

One gauged site sits upstream of here. The closest is Rocky River above Irish Buffalo Creek near Rocky River, NC, reading 278 square miles. This gauge adds the 1,102 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Pee Dee River at Pee Dee Refuge near Ansonville, NC at 6,134 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 22% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Pee Dee River below Powerhouse Dam near Pee Dee, NC, Pee Dee River near Rockingham, NC and Pee Dee River above Jones Creek near Cordova, NC. It then enters Blewett Falls Lake on Pee Dee River near Pee Dee, NC, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

The Rocky River runs a median of 288 cfs at this gauge across 97 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 1,080 cfs, and September the leanest at 144 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 85,600 cfs in 1945, and the lowest is 19 cfs in 1955.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1930 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Rocky River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 20 feet. NWS starts watching it at 16 feet. The highest crest on record is 46.4 feet, in September 1945.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge NRWN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.