Rivers in North Carolina

Watauga River near Sugar Grove

Watauga County, North CarolinaNWS SGWN7USGS 03479000Blacksburg office

Below flood stage
1.52ftStage

Observed Tue, Sep 29, 4:30 PM EDT

Flood stage
6.00 ft
Record crest
29.60 ft1940

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood20.00 ft
Moderate flood16.00 ft
Minor flood6.00 ft
Action5.00 ft
  1. 16.00 ftSeveral buildings in the Valle Crucis area are affected by flood waters.
  2. 14.00 ftSignificant lowland flooding through the Valle Crucis area.
  3. 6.00 ftFlooding on portions of Watauga River road begins.
  4. 5.00 ftSeveral low water bridges begin to flood including Dewitt Barnett road 5.5 miles upstream and Hubert Thomas road 1.8 miles downstream from gage.

Crest history

114 crests on NOAA’s list since 1916.

#DateStage
1August 13, 194029.60 ft
2September 27, 202429.57 ft
3July 15, 191622.10 ft
4September 17, 200421.90 ft
5January 14, 199520.46 ft
6November 19, 200318.26 ft
7August 17, 199417.64 ft
8February 13, 196617.14 ft
9October 5, 199516.86 ft
10November 6, 197716.77 ft
11January 8, 199816.60 ft
12December 7, 195016.40 ft
13May 28, 197316.26 ft
14May 19, 201816.15 ft
15September 22, 198915.52 ft
16June 9, 201915.40 ft
17September 21, 197914.49 ft
18January 30, 201313.86 ft
19March 13, 197713.70 ft
20October 11, 201813.70 ft
21November 11, 202213.01 ft
22May 6, 201312.92 ft
23April 4, 195712.90 ft
24October 16, 196412.88 ft
25March 4, 200812.84 ft

Most recent crests

  • March 5, 2025: 5.70 ft
  • December 29, 2024: 8.02 ft
  • September 27, 2024: 29.57 ft
  • April 12, 2024: 7.50 ft
  • January 9, 2024: 10.81 ft
  • December 26, 2023: 7.11 ft
  • March 4, 2023: 7.11 ft
  • November 11, 2022: 13.01 ft
  • May 27, 2022: 7.11 ft
  • May 24, 2022: 5.68 ft

Nearby

Upstream, downstream and the gauges around this one.

What this means

Forecasts by the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center. Forecasts are not available. Only observed stages are available for this point.

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.