Tuckasegee River at Bryson City, 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 03513000 sits on the Tuckasegee River and reads everything draining 655 square miles of the Tuckasegee basin. Its datum sits 1,714 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1898, 125 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

Five gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is Tuckasegee River at Barker's Creek, NC, reading 360 square miles. This gauge adds the 295 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Fontana Lake on Ltl Tennessee River at Fontana Dam, NC at 1,571 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 42% of the water measured there.

Normal flows here

The Tuckasegee River runs a median of 1,250 cfs at this gauge across 125 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 2,070 cfs, and October the leanest at 711 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 28,000 cfs in 1917, and the lowest is 31 cfs in 1925.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1898 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The Tuckasegee River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 10 feet. NWS starts watching it at 8 feet. The highest crest on record is 16 feet, in August 1940.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge TKSN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.

TVA dams near this gauge

TVA's Fontana Dam is 20 miles from this gauge on the Little Tenn system. Planned generation, lake level and tailwater elevation for it load below when TVA has published them.

• Fontana Dam 20 miles