Swift Creek near Apex, 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 02087580 sits on Swift Creek and reads everything draining 21 square miles of the Upper Neuse basin. Its datum sits 291 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 2002, 24 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 Swift Creek near Mccullars Crossroads, NC at 36 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 59% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Swift Creek at Sr1555 near Clayton, NC. It then enters Lake Benson at Dam near Garner, NC, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

Swift Creek runs a median of 5.5 cfs at this gauge across 24 years of record. February is the fullest month at a median 11 cfs, and October the leanest at 1.8 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 1,320 cfs in 2017, and the lowest is 0.0 cfs in 2018.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 2002 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

Swift Creek reaches flood stage at this gauge at 11 feet. NWS starts watching it at 9 feet. The highest crest on record is 11.4 feet, in October 2021.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge APSN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.