Rivers in North Carolina

Watauga River near Foscoe

Watauga County, North CarolinaNWS FOSN7Blacksburg office

Below flood stage
3.84ftStage

Observed Tue, Sep 22, 7:05 AM UTC

Flood stage
9.00 ft
Record crest
11.96 ft2018

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood19.00 ft
Moderate flood15.00 ft
Minor flood9.00 ft
Action7.00 ft
  1. 16.00 ftExtensive flooding of roads and properties along the river.
  2. 10.00 ftShulls Mill Road (Route 1557) near the gage starts to be flooded.
  3. 9.00 ftOverbank and lowland flooding along the river occurs.

Crest history

16 crests on NOAA’s list since 2010.

#DateStage
1May 19, 201811.96 ft
2June 9, 201911.48 ft
3September 25, 201110.84 ft
4January 30, 20139.38 ft
5December 29, 20249.10 ft
6October 24, 20178.86 ft
7January 25, 20108.72 ft
8January 12, 20208.30 ft
9December 1, 20108.18 ft
10October 11, 20188.16 ft
11November 19, 20157.74 ft
12November 29, 20117.74 ft
13September 6, 20117.68 ft
14March 5, 20257.16 ft
15February 3, 20167.10 ft
16January 12, 20186.88 ft

Most recent crests

  • March 5, 2025: 7.16 ft
  • December 29, 2024: 9.10 ft
  • January 12, 2020: 8.30 ft
  • June 9, 2019: 11.48 ft
  • October 11, 2018: 8.16 ft
  • May 19, 2018: 11.96 ft
  • January 12, 2018: 6.88 ft
  • October 24, 2017: 8.86 ft
  • February 3, 2016: 7.10 ft
  • November 19, 2015: 7.74 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.

Sources

Stage, flood stages, impacts and crest history from NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service.