Russian River level at Guerneville
California · Tubing & floating
Measured at USGS 11467000 — RUSSIAN R A HACIENDA BRIDGE NR GUERNEVILLE CA · NWS forecast point RIOC1
Reading taken · as of 1 hour ago
Low and slow — expect to drag in the shallows
At 101 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest 10% of the 86 years USGS has recorded for this date (1940–2026), at 66% of the 153 CFS median.
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Flood stages at Guerneville
National Weather Service categories for gauge RIOC1, WFO MTR. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
-
Action 31.0 ft
- Right now 1.07 ft
NWS forecast: 1.13 ft by .
Flow history at Guerneville
Daily values from USGS 11467000, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for RIOC1 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Guerneville
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 49.70 ft | 90,100 CFS | Dec 23, 1955 |
| 49.60 ft | 93,400 CFS | Dec 23, 1964 |
| 48.56 ft | 102,000 CFS | Feb 18, 1986 |
| 48.01 ft | 93,900 CFS | Jan 9, 1995 |
| 45.28 ft | 77,000 CFS | Jan 5, 1966 |
| 44.60 ft | 82,120 CFS | Jan 2, 1997 |
| 43.95 ft | 72,900 CFS | Jan 24, 1970 |
| 43.70 ft | 71,800 CFS | Feb 1, 1963 |
| 43.18 ft | 74,000 CFS | Jan 17, 1974 |
| 42.95 ft | 68,700 CFS | Feb 25, 1958 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About Russian River at Guerneville
USGS publishes this as Russian River at Hacienda Bridge near Guerneville. Its seasonal swing is the widest of any gauge in this group: a published median of 2,700 CFS in February against 156 CFS in August, a factor of roughly seventeen across the calendar.
The flood record is the other half of the story. Four crests above 48 feet sit in the historical list, all of them between December and February: 49.7 feet in December 1955, 49.6 in December 1964, 48.56 in February 1986 and 48.01 in January 1995. The February 1986 event produced the highest daily mean in the record at 97,700 CFS and an instantaneous peak of 102,000. The lowest daily mean on file is 0.75 CFS, in May 1977.
Russian River at Guerneville — common questions
6 questions
Why does this gauge read so low in summer?
Because the basin has a Mediterranean pattern: almost all of the year's water arrives between November and March. Across the published 1940 to 2026 statistics the August median is 156 CFS and the February median is 2,700. A low August number here is the normal condition rather than a drought signal, and the percent of normal figure above is the way to tell those apart.
When do the big floods happen here?
Mid winter, without exception in the recorded crest list. The four highest crests on file are December 1955 at 49.7 feet, December 1964 at 49.6, February 1986 at 48.56 and January 1995 at 48.01. Action stage is 31 feet. The NWS maintains no higher category for this point, so action stage is the only official rung on the ladder.
Does any nearby gauge predict this one?
Not the closest one, which is worth knowing. Putah Creek at Winters, 45.7 miles away, has 31,713 days of overlapping record with this gauge going back to 1939, and the correlation between them is 0.115. That is close to no relationship at all. Putah is held by a dam and this river is not, so the same storm shows up on one and is absorbed by the other.
Does rain upstream change Russian River at Guerneville quickly?
Yes. It is free-flowing, so rain upstream moves it directly. Several feet in a few hours is normal after a heavy storm.
Is Russian River at Guerneville high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 153 CFS, from 86 years of record (1940–2026). Today sits in the lowest 10% of those years, at 66% 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 11467000 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for RIOC1 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.