Canadian River level at Whitefield

Oklahoma · Fishing & wading

Measured at USGS 07245000 — Canadian River near Whitefield, OK · NWS forecast point WHTO2

109CFS 8% of normal

Reading taken · as of 58 min ago

Gage height1.40 ft
Median for late September1,290 CFS
Years of record58 (1968–2026)
Highest on record226,000 CFS daily, 1968–2026
Lowest on record17 CFS daily

Below normal — good wading, low and clear

At 109 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest quarter of the 58 years USGS has recorded for this date (1968–2026), at 8% of the 1,290 CFS median.

Last 30 days · 97–3,130 CFS · dashed line is the seasonal median

Flow history at Whitefield

Loading history…

Daily values from USGS 07245000, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for WHTO2 reissued through the day. Provisional.

Highest crests on record at Whitefield

12 on record
StageFlowDate
25.50 ft281,000 CFSMay 10, 1943
25.32 ft241,000 CFSMay 3, 1990
21.80 ft255,000 CFSApr 16, 1945
20.80 ft260,000 CFSJun 25, 1948
20.00 ft256,000 CFSMay 11, 1950
18.71 ft165,000 CFSMay 2, 1954
18.70 ft210,000 CFSMay 19, 1949
18.25 ft176,000 CFSMay 18, 1957
17.86 ft180,000 CFSMay 19, 1960
17.26 ft44,800 CFSJun 3, 1982

Crests published by the National Weather Service.

About Canadian River at Whitefield

This station drains 47,283 square miles, the largest basin of any gauge on this page group, and its daily record spans a range of roughly six hundred thousand to one. The lowest daily mean on file is 0.4 CFS, on 8 October 1956. The highest is 239,000 CFS, on 11 May 1943.

Both of those figures sit outside the window the seasonal comparison uses. USGS publishes daily statistics for 1968 to 2026, after Eufaula upstream, and within that window the monthly medians run from 1,170 CFS in October to 7,330 in May. The largest instantaneous peak on record, 281,000 CFS at a crest of 25.5 feet, is dated 10 May 1943, and the largest modern one, 241,000 CFS at 25.32 feet, is 3 May 1990.

Canadian River at Whitefield — common questions

6 questions

Has this river really run at less than 1 CFS?

The published daily record contains a mean of 0.4 CFS on 8 October 1956, on a basin of 47,283 square miles. That reading predates the 1968 start of the statistics window this page compares against, so it does not describe the modern regulated river, but it is in the USGS record as measured and it is the reason the record range shown here is so wide.

Why do the record extremes not match the seasonal statistics?

Because they come from different parts of the record. The daily series starts on 1 October 1938 and holds the 1943 high and the 1956 low. The daily statistics that produce the median on this page begin in 1968, which is the regulated era. Within that later window the monthly medians sit between 1,170 and 7,330 CFS, a far narrower river than the extremes suggest.

Does the Illinois River at Gore track this gauge?

Only in part. The two gauges are 23.5 miles apart and have 31,948 days of overlapping record since 1939, correlating at 0.598, with this station carrying a median of about 2.71 times the Illinois. Given that this basin is more than forty times larger, a median ratio of under three tells you how much of the Canadian's water is being held upstream.

How do releases from Lake Eufaula affect this stretch?

Directly and fast. When the dam generates, flow here can climb by an order of magnitude within the hour, with no rain anywhere in the basin. That sudden release is the real hazard on a tailwater. The pool level is on lakelvl.com, linked below.

Is Canadian River at Whitefield high or low for this time of year?

The USGS median flow for late September here is 1,290 CFS, from 58 years of record (1968–2026). Today sits in the lowest quarter of those years, at 8% 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 07245000 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for WHTO2 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.

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