South Fork Catawba River at Lowell, 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 02145000 sits on the South Fork Catawba River and reads everything draining 628 square miles of the South Fork Catawba basin. Its datum sits 602 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1942, 48 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

South Fork Catawba River at Dam at Spencer Mnt, NC sits immediately upstream, so dam releases rather than rainfall set the flow here. One gauged site sits upstream of here. The closest is South Fork Catawba River at Dam at Spencer Mnt, NC, reading 622 square miles. Downstream the next reading comes from Catawba River below Lake Wylie Dam Fewell Island, SC at 3,020 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 21% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The South Fork Catawba River runs a median of 549 cfs at this gauge across 48 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 880 cfs, and October the leanest at 345 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 21,700 cfs in 1970, and the lowest is 25 cfs in 2002.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1942 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The South Fork Catawba River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 10 feet. NWS starts watching it at 9 feet. The highest crest on record is 21.3 feet, in August 1940.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge LOWN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.