Sandy Creek at Cornwallis Rd near Durham, 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 0209722970 sits on Sandy Creek and reads everything draining 4.7 square miles of the Haw basin. Its datum sits 266 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2008, 18 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 New Hope Creek near Blands, NC at 76 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 6% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Haw River near Moncure, NC. It then enters Jordan Lake at Buoy 9 near Farrington, NC, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

Sandy Creek runs a median of 1.4 cfs at this gauge across 18 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 2.5 cfs, and October the leanest at 0.8 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 809 cfs in 2010, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2008.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2008 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Sandy Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 15 feet. NWS starts watching it at 13 feet. The highest crest on record is 14.9 feet, in March 1989.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge SCRN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.