New River level at Hinton
West Virginia · Tubing & floating
Measured at USGS 03184500 — NEW RIVER AT HINTON, WV · NWS forecast point HINW2
Reading taken · as of 1 hour ago
Running thin — a slow, scrapey float
At 1,760 CFS, this gauge is running 84% of normal for mid-September — below the 2,100 CFS median USGS has recorded for this date across 66 years of record (1939–2026).
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Flood stages at Hinton
National Weather Service categories for gauge HINW2, WFO RNK. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
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Major flood 18.0 ft
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Moderate flood 16.0 ft
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Minor flood 15.0 ft
- 15.0 ft Some houses on left bank and downstream from Highway 20 bridge may be affected.
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Action 9.0 ft · 65,500 CFS
- Right now 1.76 ft
NWS forecast: 2.00 ft by .
Flow history at Hinton
Daily values from USGS 03184500, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for HINW2 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Hinton
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 20.20 ft | — | Sep 13, 1878 |
| 18.97 ft | — | Aug 15, 1940 |
| 18.80 ft | — | May 22, 1901 |
| 18.00 ft | — | Apr 21, 1901 |
| 16.00 ft | — | Jul 17, 1916 |
| 14.35 ft | 38,400 CFS | Dec 30, 1943 |
| 12.70 ft | 124,000 CFS | Jan 8, 1946 |
| 10.68 ft | 91,700 CFS | Jan 20, 1996 |
| 10.61 ft | — | Jan 26, 2010 |
| 10.60 ft | 88,600 CFS | Sep 19, 1945 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About New River at Hinton
Hinton sits immediately below Bluestone Dam, so this gauge reads the release rather than the weather. The Corps operates Bluestone for flood control on a basin that drains a large part of southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia, which means the number here can jump by an order of magnitude when the pool behind the dam has to be drawn down, and can do it on a sunny day.
Downstream is Sandstone Falls and the head of the New River Gorge, and the release governs both the falls viewing and everything the rafting operations do below. This is a gauge where reading the trend matters more than reading the instant: a rising release and a falling one look identical in a single number.
New River at Hinton — common questions
5 questions
Why did the New River at Hinton change so much with no rain?
Bluestone Dam is directly upstream and this gauge measures what it lets out. The Corps of Engineers changes the release to manage the flood pool behind the dam, and a change made for reasons a hundred miles upstream shows up here within the hour. Sudden, weather-independent changes are the normal behaviour of this reach, not an anomaly.
Is this the gauge for Sandstone Falls?
It is the one to use. Sandstone Falls is a few miles downstream and there is no significant tributary between, so the release measured here is essentially the water going over the falls. Low readings expose the ledges and the boardwalk views; high ones bury them.
Does rain upstream change New River at Hinton 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 New River at Hinton high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for mid-September here is 2,100 CFS, from 66 years of record (1939–2026). Today is 84% of it. 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 03184500 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for HINW2 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.