Rivers in Pennsylvania

East Branch Brandywine Creek below Downingtown

Chester County, PennsylvaniaNWS DWNP1USGS 01480870Mount Holly office

Below flood stage
3.52ftStage

Observed Wed, Sep 23, 6:30 AM EDT

Flood stage
7.00 ft
Record crest
19.11 ft2021

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood11.00 ft
Moderate flood9.00 ft
Minor flood7.00 ft
Action6.00 ft
  1. 13.00 ftRoute 30 in Downingtown is closed due to flooding. Route 322 (Brandywine Avenue) is closed between Business 30 and Boot Road due to flooding. Businesses along business Route 30, between the creek and Downing Avenue, take on water.
  2. 12.00 ftResidential basements flood along Jefferson Avenue.
  3. 11.00 ftJefferson Avenue in Downingtown floods. Business Route 30 and Pennsylvania Avenue also flood.
  4. 9.00 ftHigh water on the Brandywine sends backwater up Beaver Creek. Beaver Creek floods inundating parks and the Downingtown Little League fields.
  5. 8.00 ftDowlin Forge Road begins to flood.
  6. 6.00 ftOpen adjacent land next to the creek floods.

Crest history

75 crests on NOAA’s list since 1972.

#DateStage
1September 2, 202119.11 ft
2September 16, 199914.79 ft
3June 28, 200614.38 ft
4August 28, 201113.73 ft
5August 4, 202013.59 ft
6September 15, 200313.56 ft
7May 1, 201413.50 ft
8June 20, 200313.22 ft
9October 1, 201013.00 ft
10September 28, 200412.83 ft
11October 19, 199612.60 ft
12January 19, 199612.50 ft
13June 22, 197212.40 ft
14June 9, 202112.36 ft
15January 24, 197912.07 ft
16July 7, 198412.01 ft
17September 8, 201111.70 ft
18September 22, 197911.60 ft
19August 13, 201811.59 ft
20January 10, 202411.41 ft
21July 25, 202311.23 ft
22January 26, 197811.07 ft
23December 18, 202310.94 ft
24March 22, 200010.79 ft
25December 17, 200010.79 ft

Most recent crests

  • September 3, 2026: 7.48 ft
  • July 1, 2025: 7.10 ft
  • May 16, 2025: 7.70 ft
  • January 10, 2024: 11.41 ft
  • December 28, 2023: 10.34 ft
  • December 18, 2023: 10.94 ft
  • December 11, 2023: 7.07 ft
  • July 25, 2023: 11.23 ft
  • July 10, 2023: 9.10 ft
  • June 27, 2023: 9.20 ft

Nearby

Upstream, downstream and the gauges around this one.

What this means

Forecasts by the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center. Forecasts are issued as needed during times of high water, but are not routinely available.

Sources

Stage, flood stages, impacts and crest history from NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service. Streamflow and the daily record from the U.S. Geological Survey.