West Fork Pigeon River at Bethel, 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 03456100 sits on the West Fork Pigeon River and reads everything draining 58 square miles of the Pigeon basin. Its datum sits 2,668 feet above sea level NAVD88. Daily flow has been on record here since 1981, 45 years of it.

Where this gauge sits in the drainage

West Fork Pigeon River below Lake Logan near Waynesville, NC sits immediately upstream, so dam releases rather than rainfall set the flow here. Three gauged sites sit upstream of here. The closest is West Fork Pigeon River below Lake Logan near Waynesville, NC, reading 55 square miles. This gauge adds the 3.1 square miles that drain in between. Downstream the next reading comes from Pigeon River near Canton, NC at 130 square miles, so what passes this gauge is about 45% of the water measured there. Water passing here goes on to Pigeon River near Hepco, NC and Pigeon River below Power Plant near Waterville, NC. It then enters Pigeon River near Lake Junaluska, NC, below which releases set the flow.

Normal flows here

The West Fork Pigeon River runs a median of 114 cfs at this gauge across 45 years of record. March is the fullest month at a median 193 cfs, and September the leanest at 52 cfs. The highest daily mean on record is 7,060 cfs in 2024, and the lowest is 9.2 cfs in 1986.

Medians from the USGS daily-statistics record, 1981 to 2026. A month at 100% is running at its own long-term median.

Flood stages and record crests

The West Fork Pigeon River reaches flood stage at this gauge at 10 feet. NWS starts watching it at 9 feet. The highest crest on record is 16.3 feet, in September 2004.

Flood categories and crest history from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge CWPN7. Stages are gage height, not depth. Not for navigation.