Rivers in Virginia

North Fork Holston River at Saltville

Smyth County, VirginiaNWS SALV2USGS 03488000Blacksburg office

Below flood stage
1.28ftStage

Observed Mon, Sep 28, 5:55 AM EDT

Flood stage
10.00 ft
Forecast crest
1.40 ftMon, Sep 28, 8:00 AM EDT
Record crest
15.46 ft2003

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood14.00 ft
Moderate flood12.00 ft
Minor flood10.00 ft
Action8.00 ft
  1. 15.00 ftSeveral homes may be flooded along the river.
  2. 14.00 ftSeveral roads are flooded near the river including Route 620 (Sunset River Rd., Route 624 (Ridgedale Rd., and Route 630 (Smith Hollow Rd.).
  3. 13.00 ftPortions of Route 91 begin to flood in the McCready area.
  4. 10.00 ftMinor flooding of lowlands along the river.

Flood outlook

Chance of flooding, September to November

CategoryChance
Minor flooding5%
Moderate floodingUnder 5%
Major floodingUnder 5%

The three-month chances are the River Forecast Centers’ long-range flood outlook, issued September 16, 2026.

Crest history

75 crests on NOAA’s list since 1907.

#DateStage
1November 19, 200315.46 ft
2March 18, 200214.83 ft
3November 6, 197713.57 ft
4January 29, 195713.20 ft
5June 14, 190713.00 ft
6April 5, 197712.98 ft
7February 16, 202512.86 ft
8March 12, 196312.15 ft
9April 2, 190812.10 ft
10December 21, 192612.00 ft
11December 10, 197211.98 ft
12April 13, 202011.95 ft
13July 30, 200111.80 ft
14July 30, 200111.79 ft
15February 7, 202011.37 ft
16February 25, 196111.15 ft
17February 22, 200311.11 ft
18August 30, 192411.00 ft
19March 14, 197510.68 ft
20January 8, 194610.53 ft
21May 7, 198410.51 ft
22February 15, 200310.47 ft
23December 31, 196910.37 ft
24February 18, 194410.15 ft
25April 4, 193110.10 ft

Most recent crests

  • February 16, 2025: 12.86 ft
  • February 1, 2025: 8.01 ft
  • September 28, 2024: 9.22 ft
  • February 17, 2023: 8.71 ft
  • May 24, 2022: 7.84 ft
  • April 13, 2020: 11.95 ft
  • February 7, 2020: 11.37 ft
  • February 11, 2018: 7.71 ft
  • April 24, 2017: 9.52 ft
  • December 2, 2015: 6.69 ft

Nearby

Upstream, downstream and the gauges around this one.

What this means

Forecasts by the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center. Forecasts are issued routinely year-round. River forecasts for this location take into account past precipitation and the precipitation amounts expected approximately 24 hours into the future from the forecast issuance time.

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.