Tar River at NC 97 at Rocky Mount, 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 02082585 sits on the Tar River and reads everything draining 925 square miles of the Upper Tar basin. Its datum sits 53 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1977, 50 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Three gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Tar River below Tar River Reservoir near Rocky Mount, NC, reading 777 square miles. This gauge adds the 148 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Tar River at Tarboro, NC at 2,183 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 42% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Tar River runs a median of 338 cfs at this gauge across 50 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 1,020 cfs, and October the leanest at 123 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 31,500 cfs in 1999, and the lowest is 3.4 cfs in 2008.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1977 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Tar River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 21 feet. NWS starts watching it at 19 feet. The highest crest on record is 31.7 feet, in September 1999.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge ROKN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.