Sacandaga River level at Hadley
New York · Tubing & floating
Measured at USGS 01325000 — SACANDAGA RIVER AT STEWARTS BRIDGE NR HADLEY NY · NWS forecast point HDLN6
Reading taken · as of 58 min ago
Right around its normal summer float level
At 2,070 CFS, this gauge is inside the middle half of the 95 years USGS has recorded for this date (1931–2026), at 105% of the 1,970 CFS median.
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Flood stages at Hadley
National Weather Service categories for gauge HDLN6, WFO ALY. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
-
Major flood 12.0 ft
- 12.0 ft Major flood stage.
-
Moderate flood 11.0 ft
- 11.0 ft Moderate flood stage.
-
Minor flood 10.0 ft
- 10.0 ft Minor flood stage.
-
Action 8.0 ft
- 8.0 ft Action stage.
- 9.0 ft River is about a foot below bankfull.
- Right now 3.95 ft
NWS forecast: 3.90 ft by .
Flow history at Hadley
Daily values from USGS 01325000, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for HDLN6 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Hadley
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 12.36 ft | 35,500 CFS | Mar 28, 1913 |
| 10.40 ft | 16,500 CFS | May 2, 2011 |
| 10.00 ft | 14,867 CFS | Apr 25, 2019 |
| 9.78 ft | 14,200 CFS | May 3, 2007 |
| 9.77 ft | 14,200 CFS | Feb 7, 2006 |
| 9.71 ft | 14,000 CFS | Apr 28, 2008 |
| 9.68 ft | 13,300 CFS | May 4, 1983 |
| 9.54 ft | 13,300 CFS | Jul 1, 1968 |
| 9.37 ft | 12,500 CFS | Apr 28, 1993 |
| 9.32 ft | 12,300 CFS | May 23, 1990 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About Sacandaga River at Hadley
One number on this page needs explaining before the rest makes sense. The published USGS median for April at this station is 67 CFS. Every other month of the year sits between 1,880 and 3,010. A single month running at roughly one thirtieth of its neighbours is not a seasonal pattern; it is the release schedule at Stewarts Bridge showing up in the statistics.
Behind that, the record is deep. The daily series starts on 13 September 1907, 118 annual peaks are on file, and the published statistics cover 1931 to 2026. The five largest peaks are all between 1913 and 1928, headed by 35,500 CFS at 12.36 feet on 28 March 1913. The lowest daily mean on record, 4.2 CFS, is from March 1992.
Sacandaga River at Hadley — common questions
6 questions
Why is the April normal so much lower than every other month?
The published April median is 67 CFS against 3,010 in January and 1,880 in May. That is a managed pattern at Stewarts Bridge rather than a natural one, and it means a percent of normal figure calculated in April is being compared against an unusually low baseline. In the other eleven months the median sits in a 1,880 to 3,010 band and the comparison behaves normally.
Are the record floods here recent?
No. The five largest peaks in the record are 1913, 1922, 1926, 1914 and 1928, led by 35,500 CFS and a crest of 12.36 feet on 28 March 1913. The highest modern crest in the list is 10.4 feet in May 2011. Major flood stage at this point is 12 feet, which only the 1913 event has exceeded.
Does the Hudson at North Creek tell me anything about this gauge?
Essentially nothing, and the measurement is emphatic about it. Across 43,461 days of overlapping record going back to 1907, two Adirondack rivers 27.5 miles apart correlate at minus 0.053. That is no relationship at all. The Hudson gauge reflects what the weather did; this one reflects what Stewarts Bridge decided to release, and those two things are independent.
Does rain upstream change Sacandaga River at Hadley 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 Sacandaga River at Hadley high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 1,970 CFS, from 95 years of record (1931–2026). Today sits inside the middle half of those years, at 105% 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 01325000 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for HDLN6 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.