South Fork Cumberland River near Stearns, KY 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 03410500 sits on the South Fork Cumberland River and reads everything draining 954 square miles of the South Fork Cumberland basin. Its datum sits 765 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1943, 65 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Two gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is South Fork Cumberland River at Leatherwood Ford, TN, reading 806 square miles. This gauge adds the 148 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Lake Cumberland at Burnside, KY at 4,869 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 20% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The South Fork Cumberland River runs a median of 656 cfs at this gauge across 65 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 2,120 cfs, and September the leanest at 110 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 80,200 cfs in 1975, and the lowest is 11 cfs in 1954.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1943 to 2025. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The highest crest on record is 52.9 feet, in March 1929.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge STRK2. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.