Blue River level at Silverthorne
Colorado · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 09050700 — BLUE RIVER BELOW DILLON, CO. · NWS forecast point BLRC2
Reading taken · as of 1 hour ago
Low and clear — wadeable, and fish will be spooky
At 54 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest 10% of the 63 years USGS has recorded for this date (1963–2026), at 51% of the 105 CFS median. The stage is 2.6 ft below the NWS action stage of 3.5 ft.
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Flood stages at Silverthorne
National Weather Service categories for gauge BLRC2, WFO BOU. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
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Major flood 7.0 ft
- 7.0 ft Widespread, major flooding occurs with several bridges overtopped downstream of Dillon Dam. Many roads, homes and businesses are impacted.
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Moderate flood 5.5 ft
- 6.0 ft Colorado Highway 9 is overtopped near Silverthorne.
- 6.5 ft Water flows over the 6th Street bridge and into businesses in Silverthorne.
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Minor flood 4.0 ft · 2,002 CFS
- 4.0 ft Homes flood in the South 40 Subdivision in northern Silverthorne.
- 5.0 ft Homes flood along the Blue River in Silverthorne.
-
Action 3.5 ft · 1,561 CFS
- 3.7 ft Water approaches yards in the South 40 Subdivision in northern Silverthorne and walkways along the Blue River in Silverthorne.
- Right now 0.86 ft
NWS forecast: 0.86 ft by .
Flow history at Silverthorne
Daily values from USGS 09050700, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for BLRC2 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Silverthorne
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 3.95 ft | 1,990 CFS | Jun 22, 1983 |
| 3.89 ft | 1,910 CFS | Jul 6, 2019 |
| 3.88 ft | 2,010 CFS | May 25, 1984 |
| 3.83 ft | 1,870 CFS | Jun 10, 1985 |
| 3.78 ft | 1,800 CFS | Jun 17, 2015 |
| 3.76 ft | 2,000 CFS | Jul 14, 1995 |
| 3.74 ft | 1,780 CFS | Jul 9, 2011 |
| 3.68 ft | 1,730 CFS | Jun 26, 1971 |
| 3.68 ft | 1,714 CFS | Jun 8, 2014 |
| 3.64 ft | 1,680 CFS | Jun 10, 1972 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About Blue River at Silverthorne
The five largest crests ever recorded at this gauge span 0.17 of a foot. They are 3.95 feet in June 1983, 3.89 in July 2019, 3.88 in May 1984, 3.83 in June 1985 and 3.78 in June 2015. The five largest annual peaks are similarly packed, from 1,880 to 2,010 CFS, a seven percent range across forty years. The record crest still sits below minor flood, which is set at 4 feet.
That is a tightly controlled river. Below Dillon Reservoir, on 334 square miles at 8,770 feet, the published monthly medians run from 73 CFS in February to 561 in June, and the daily record since 1 January 1960 runs from zero, on 4 September 1963, to 1,940 CFS on 24 May 1984. The flood ladder is action 3.5 feet, minor 4, moderate 5.5 and major 7, with an impact statement at 3.7 feet noting water approaching yards in the South 40 subdivision and walkways along the Blue in Silverthorne.
Blue River at Silverthorne — common questions
6 questions
How close does this gauge get to flooding?
It touches the bottom of the ladder and stops. Action stage is 3.5 feet and minor flood is 4. The highest crest in the record is 3.95 feet, from June 1983, so in sixty-five years the river has never been logged at minor flood. The impact statement attached to 3.7 feet is the practical threshold to watch.
Why are the biggest events so similar in size?
Because the station is below Dillon Reservoir and what passes it is largely a decision. The top five annual peaks, spread across 1984, 1995, 1983, 2019 and 1986, all fall between 1,880 and 2,010 CFS. On a free-flowing mountain river you would expect the largest event in sixty-five years to stand well clear of the fifth largest. Here it is seven percent higher.
Does the Colorado at Kremmling move with this gauge?
Moderately, at very different volumes. Across 23,290 shared days since October 1961 the two correlate at 0.689 in log flow, and this gauge runs at a median of about 0.15 times the Kremmling reading, 34.6 miles away. Same snowpack, one sixth the water, and two separate release schedules in between.
What makes the flow change on Blue River at Silverthorne?
Rain upstream, plus seasonal baseflow. The 12-month chart shows how it behaves through the year.
Is Blue River at Silverthorne high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 105 CFS, from 63 years of record (1963–2026). Today sits in the lowest 10% of those years, at 51% of the median. The comparison is what makes the raw number mean anything: the same reading is a drought on one river and a flood on another.
How often does this reading update?
USGS transmits from gauge 09050700 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for BLRC2 a few times a day — more often when the river is rising. This page refreshes from both when you open it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.