Pomme De Terre River level at Hermitage
Missouri · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 06921350 — Pomme de Terre River near Hermitage, MO · NWS forecast point PTZM7
Reading taken · as of 43 min ago
Below normal — good wading, low and clear
At 40 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest quarter of the 66 years USGS has recorded for this date (1960–2026), at 82% of the 49 CFS median.
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Flood stages at Hermitage
National Weather Service categories for gauge PTZM7, WFO SGF. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
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Major flood 15.0 ft · 9,000 CFS
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Moderate flood 12.0 ft · 5,720 CFS
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Minor flood 10.0 ft · 4,750 CFS
- 10.0 ft Approximate level where campsites near the gage flood.
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Action 18.0 ft
- Right now 1.77 ft
Flow history at Hermitage
Daily values from USGS 06921350, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for PTZM7 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Hermitage
5 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 15.02 ft | 9,000 CFS | May 9, 1961 |
| 12.43 ft | 6,170 CFS | Mar 23, 1962 |
| 12.15 ft | 5,910 CFS | May 5, 1970 |
| 11.97 ft | 5,710 CFS | Jun 11, 1968 |
| 7.24 ft | 1,920 CFS | May 7, 2003 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About Pomme De Terre River at Hermitage
The flood ladder attached to this gauge does not run in order. The NWS lists action stage at 18 feet, minor flood at 10, moderate at 12 and major at 15, so the action rung sits three feet above the major one. Read the category names on this page with that in mind, and treat the stage number itself as the reliable part.
The discharge record is more orderly. USGS credits the station with 615 square miles at an elevation of 749.87 feet, and the published monthly medians fall from 442 CFS in March to 49 in September and October, a nine to one swing across the year. Daily statistics cover 1960 to 2026. Inside that window the series runs from a daily mean of zero on 10 September 1960 to 9,000 CFS on 9 May 1961, which is still the largest annual peak on file sixty-five years later.
Reservoir feeding this stretch
Flow here is set by releases from Pomme de Terre Lake. A full pool usually means more water on its way down.
Pomme De Terre River at Hermitage — common questions
6 questions
Why is action stage higher than major flood here?
That is how the categories are published for this forecast point, and it is worth saying plainly rather than smoothing over: action 18 feet, minor 10, moderate 12, major 15. The flow thresholds behind minor, moderate and major do ascend in order, at 4,750, 5,720 and 9,000 CFS. The one impact statement on file is tied to 10 feet, where campsites near the gage flood.
What is the biggest event in this station's record?
9 May 1961. The annual peak reached 9,000 CFS at a stage of 15.02 feet, and that is both the highest daily mean in the 1960 to 2026 series and the top entry on the NWS crest list. Only five crests appear on that list at all, and the most recent is 7.24 feet from May 2003.
Does the Niangua at Windyville move with this gauge?
Moderately. Over 9,201 days on which both reported, from July 1991 to the present, the two correlate at 0.657 in log flow terms, and this gauge has run at a median of about 1.42 times the Niangua's discharge. They are 26.9 miles apart and share weather, but this one sits below Pomme de Terre Lake and the Niangua does not, which is the sort of gap that a correlation of 0.66 rather than 0.9 describes.
How do releases from Pomme de Terre Lake 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 Pomme De Terre River at Hermitage high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 49 CFS, from 66 years of record (1960–2026). Today sits in the lowest quarter of those years, at 82% 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 06921350 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for PTZM7 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.