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Other Gauge Charts

for Maryland, Virginia, eastern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania

 

Most of these earlier tables give river levels by stage (feet, and tenths thereof) on the USGS gauges and identify the range in which boating is possible [min] and not unsafe [max]. To the extent possible, Ettinger’s guide and this table use discharge volume (in cfs) which give easily comparable flows from which to choose. A few of these tables, like this one, are linked to the on-line USGS gauges [“dynamic”]; others are static.

American Whitewater: This site http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/search/state/rgMC/level/run/atleast/I/atmost/V%2B/sr/1/ is the granddaddy of them all – linked to the USGS gauges in real time – drawbacks are that you must sift through the whole Mid-Atlantic area for your stream, that it doesn’t carry the very small ones, and that most of its listings are in stages (feet). Dynamic

Monocacy Canoe Club: MCC – the area’s go-to paddling website at subheading www.monocacycanoecanoe.org/gauges .html, DEAD displays under “River Levels and Weather” 23 links to data sources – including, in place 23, these very tables. Chasing our own tail!

 

Blue Ridge Voyageurs: At http://www.blueridgevoyageurs.org/h2oguide.htm is the BRV’s extensive list of gauges and river levels. It is organized by 34 USGS gauges and gives recommended river levels in feet-and-inches. It also gives high, low, and medium levels and covers the area to the south and west of CC&K’s Washington-centered spread – New, Tye, Cheat, Big Sandy, Tygart, and the like. It has helpful links to American Whitewater’s detailed descriptions of the individual creeks. – Dynamic

DC Kayak – River & Creek Flows: At http://www.dckayak.com/river-levels-flows-in-va-md-dc-pa-wv DEAD  this has some 115 (+ 6 non-linked) readings of stream levels in a 4-hour radius of DC. Excellent links to AW’s stream descriptions and to local weather, but the key is those to current USGS discharge readings and indication (by three colors) of whether the stream is running within recommended levels – the range also appearing on the table. – Dynamic

Canoe Cruisers Association:
A similar table of “Gauge Levels for Nearby Rivers” listing 48 current gauges is in the CCA’s printed annual Roster & Handbook. – Static

 

Baltimore Canoe & Kayak Club:  See their online River Info – under “Paddling Resources.” – for 9 Maryland rivers.

Western Pennsylvania: A fine on-line guide to western Pennsylvania streams is http://www.learningdesign.com/cgi-local/rivergage DEAD by Ed Donley, based on the 1991 edition of Roy Weil’s and Mary Shaw’s venerable Pittsburgh Council American Youth Hostel Guide. Like the AW gauge pages, it is color coded by current navigability, but it has the advantages of being focused on a small area (not a catch-all “Mid Atlantic”) and if its streams are too low, tells by how much - in tenths of a foot. It also can be reached through the MCC’s “River Levels” page – at “Pennsylvania.” – Dynamic

Another gauge table for western Pennsylvania is http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~shaw/CGparts/alpha.html (but in tiny print). It can also be found through the MCC’s “Canoe Clubs” at Canoe Club of Greater Harrisburg at Pennsylvania Paddling Resources (Rock & Water) at Canoeing Guide to Western Pa. – Static

NOAA Precipitation Gauges: A new (late 2013) site http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/RFC_Precip/ displays rainfall in the last 3, 6, 13, 24 hours (and 2 through 120 days), opening with the whole continental USA. Drill down to the locale and then go below the map to “Available Precipitation Images” – essentially the above time-periods. The amount of precipitation is in different colors, see the codes in the vertical bar on the right. This obviates going to the individual (and idiosyncratic) state and county rainfall gauges.


rev.  12 Aug 2017