Gauley River level at Summersville
West Virginia · Paddling & whitewater
Measured at USGS 03189600 — GAULEY RIVER BELOW SUMMERSVILLE DAM, WV · NWS forecast point SUMW2
Reading taken · as of 43 min ago
In its normal runnable range
At 1,470 CFS, this gauge is inside the middle half of the 34 years USGS has recorded for this date (1966–2003), at 121% of the 1,210 CFS median.
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Flow history at Summersville
Daily values from USGS 03189600, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for SUMW2 reissued through the day. Provisional.
About Gauley River at Summersville
One thing to know before reading the seasonal comparison on this page: USGS publishes daily statistics for this station only through 2003. The percent of normal figure is computed against a 1966 to 2003 window, about 33 years, and nothing since. The live reading is current; the thing it is being compared with is not.
Inside that window the station shows a pattern no natural river would produce. The published median for April is 237 CFS. March is 2,500 and May is 1,530. A single month sits roughly a tenth of its neighbours, on a reach below Summersville Dam. The full daily record, 1966 to 2003, runs from 2.4 CFS on 10 February 1967 to 18,000 CFS on 24 August 1989.
Gauley River at Summersville — common questions
6 questions
How current is the seasonal comparison on this page?
Less current than on most gauges here, and it is worth saying plainly. The USGS daily statistics for this station end in 2003, so the median this page compares against comes from 1966 to 2003 and takes no account of the two decades since. The live reading and the record range are fine; treat the percent of normal as a historical comparison rather than a modern one.
Why is the April median so much lower than March and May?
The published April median is 237 CFS against 2,500 in March and 1,530 in May. That is a managed number on a reach below Summersville Dam rather than a natural seasonal shape. The annual peak record, which continues past 2003 and runs to 2025, shows the other side of the same management: the largest peak on record is 18,200 CFS on 24 August 1989.
Does the New River at Fayetteville track this gauge?
Only loosely, and the overlap is limited. The two gauges reported on 6,797 of the same days, but only between 1981 and 2003, because this station's daily record stops there. Across those days the correlation is 0.473 and this gauge ran at a median of about a fifth of the New's flow. The weak coupling is what you would expect when one river is on a release schedule and the other is not.
How fast can Gauley River at Summersville come up?
Fast. It is free-flowing, so rain upstream moves it directly. Several feet in a few hours is normal after a heavy storm.
Is Gauley River at Summersville high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 1,210 CFS, from 34 years of record (1966–2003). Today sits inside the middle half of those years, at 121% 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 03189600 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for SUMW2 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.