Elk Creek at Elkville Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Elk Creek at Elkville in NC, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location NC, United States
- Watershed upper yadkin
- Primary gauge 02111180 (USGS)
About Elk Creek at Elkville
Elk Creek at Elkville is in the Upper Yadkin watershed in North Carolina.
What the record shows
The station record runs for more than 50 years. The highest level in the file is 16.23 ft (4.95 m), set in March 1997. The lowest is -0.29 ft (-0.09 m), also in March 1997.
That spread matters for anyone watching a bank, dock, crossing, or intake: Elk Creek can move well beyond its everyday band. The typical annual swing is 3 in (7.7 cm), which is small compared with the extremes, so the long record says to pay attention when the creek leaves its usual range.
Seasonally, the highest month is April at 1.22 ft (0.37 m), and the lowest month is September at 0.97 ft (0.3 m). That is the pattern to expect on most years: higher water in spring, lower water by late summer.
The watershed
The station drains 50.9 sq mi (132 km2) above the gauge. That is the area contributing runoff to this reading, not the full watershed downstream.
For this part of North Carolina, winter and spring rains usually set the annual peaks, while warm-season low flows come between storms. In some years, tropical systems can push the creek up fast. The record here is what matters most: a small creek basin can still produce sharp changes even when the long-term monthly swing looks modest.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for this calendar day at the station, not against the raw height alone. Raw elevation by itself does not say whether Elk Creek is running high for the season or low for the season.
This gauge is a USGS station, and the comparison is built from the station’s own record of more than 50 years. That is the useful frame for cottagers, anglers, and flood-watchers: today’s reading versus what is typical for this same date at Elk Creek.
How this page is built
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Alerts that watch the water for you
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Where Nibi comes from
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Coverage
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
Free forever, funded by members
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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