Locust Fork level at Cleveland
Alabama · Paddling & whitewater
Measured at USGS 02455000 — LOCUST FORK NEAR CLEVELAND, AL. · NWS forecast point CLEA1
Reading taken · as of 13 min ago
In its normal runnable range
At 59 CFS, this gauge is inside the middle half of the 83 years USGS has recorded for this date (1937–2026), at 197% of the 30 CFS median.
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Flow history at Cleveland
Daily values from USGS 02455000, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for CLEA1 reissued through the day. Provisional.
About Locust Fork at Cleveland
The seasonal range here is the widest in this batch. Published monthly medians run from 26 CFS in September and October to 711 in March, a swing of more than twenty-seven to one across the year, on an undammed 303 square mile drainage. Half the year sits under 100 CFS and February through April sit near 700.
The extremes are wider still. Daily statistics cover 1937 to 2026, and within a series opening in December 1936 the record runs from 1.76 CFS on 1 November 2016 to 33,900 CFS on 28 December 1942. That December 1942 event is also the largest of the eighty-four annual peaks on file, at 34,000 CFS and 19.2 feet, and four of the top five peaks arrived in December, January or February.
Locust Fork at Cleveland — common questions
6 questions
Why does this gauge swing so much?
Because nothing is holding it back. On 303 square miles with no reservoir above the station, the published medians fall from 711 CFS in March to 26 in September, and the daily record spans 1.76 CFS to 33,900. A number that is ordinary in March is an extraordinary number in September, so the percent of normal figure on this page is doing a lot of work and should be read alongside the month.
Are flood stages published for this gauge?
No. The NWS forecast point at Cleveland has no action, minor, moderate or major stage defined and holds no historical crests, so this page shows no flood ladder at all. The USGS annual peak record is the only large-event history available: 34,000 CFS in December 1942, 26,400 in January 1982, 24,400 in February 1990 and 22,700 in February 2020.
How useful is the Sipsey Fork comparison?
Limited, and the reason is the overlap rather than the distance. The Sipsey Fork at Sipsey is 31.7 miles away but the two gauges share only 1,267 days of record, starting 28 February 2023. Over that short window they correlate at 0.427 and this gauge runs at a median of about 0.15 times the Sipsey's flow. Three and a half years is not enough to characterise a relationship between two flashy streams, and the figure should be treated accordingly.
How fast can Locust Fork at Cleveland 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 Locust Fork at Cleveland high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 30 CFS, from 83 years of record (1937–2026). Today sits inside the middle half of those years, at 197% 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 02455000 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for CLEA1 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.