North Anna River level at Partlow
Virginia · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 01670400 — NORTH ANNA RIVER NEAR PARTLOW, VA · NWS forecast point PARV2
Reading taken · as of 13 min ago
Below normal — good wading, low and clear
At 42 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest quarter of the 36 years USGS has recorded for this date (1979–2026), at 90% of the 47 CFS median.
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Flow history at Partlow
Daily values from USGS 01670400, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for PARV2 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Partlow
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 36.32 ft | 22,000 CFS | Jun 22, 1972 |
| 27.80 ft | 11,600 CFS | May 1, 2014 |
| 26.24 ft | 11,700 CFS | Jun 27, 1995 |
| 25.30 ft | 11,700 CFS | Feb 26, 1979 |
| 22.05 ft | 9,030 CFS | Mar 30, 1984 |
| 21.48 ft | 8,690 CFS | Nov 28, 1993 |
| 21.48 ft | 8,690 CFS | Nov 5, 1985 |
| 20.72 ft | 8,230 CFS | Mar 5, 1993 |
| 20.49 ft | 7,510 CFS | Nov 12, 2020 |
| 18.77 ft | 6,840 CFS | Dec 8, 2011 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About North Anna River at Partlow
June 1972 remains the defining event here and it sits outside the record this page compares against. The annual peak of 22,000 CFS at 36.32 feet, on 22 June 1972, is nearly double the next largest on file and more than eight feet above the next highest crest. The daily series does not start until 1 October 1978, so it cannot see that event at all.
What the daily record does show is a tailwater below Lake Anna with a modest seasonal shape: published monthly medians from 48 CFS in September to 276 in March, on 342 square miles. Daily statistics cover 1979 to 2026. The extremes are 10,000 CFS on 26 February 1979 and 8.23 CFS on 21 November 2007. The NWS publishes no flood categories for this forecast point, though it holds twelve crests and an impact statement noting that the river exceeds its right bank downstream of the gage at 10 feet.
Reservoir feeding this stretch
Flow here is set by releases from Lake Anna. A full pool usually means more water on its way down.
North Anna River at Partlow — common questions
6 questions
Why is the 1972 flood not reflected in the record high on this page?
Because the daily series begins in October 1978, six years later. The 22,000 CFS peak of 22 June 1972 appears in the USGS annual peak record and at the top of the NWS crest list at 36.32 feet, but the highest daily mean this page can report is 10,000 CFS from February 1979. The two figures are measuring different things over different windows.
Are flood stages defined for this gauge?
No action, minor, moderate or major stage is published for the Partlow forecast point, so there is no distance-from-flood figure on this page. The crest list is the available substitute: 36.32 feet in June 1972, then 27.8 feet in May 2014, 26.24 in June 1995, 25.3 in February 1979 and 22.05 in March 1984. The one impact statement on file is at 10 feet.
How does this gauge relate to the James at Richmond?
It is a small fraction of it. Over 13,329 shared days since October 1978 the two correlate at 0.741 in log flow, and this gauge runs at a median of about three percent of the James at Richmond, 32.2 miles away. The correlation is reasonable because the same weather crosses both; the ratio is what separates a 342 square mile tailwater from a major river.
How do releases from Lake Anna 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 North Anna River at Partlow high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 47 CFS, from 36 years of record (1979–2026). Today sits in the lowest quarter of those years, at 90% 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 01670400 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for PARV2 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.