Roanoke River level at Altavista
Virginia · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 02060500 — ROANOKE RIVER AT ALTAVISTA, VA · NWS forecast point ALTV2
Reading taken · as of 1 hour ago
Low and clear — wadeable, and fish will be spooky
At 412 CFS, this gauge is running 51% of normal for mid-September — below the 813 CFS median USGS has recorded for this date across 45 years of record (1980–2026).
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Flood stages at Altavista
National Weather Service categories for gauge ALTV2, WFO RNK. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
-
Major flood 29.0 ft · 50,669 CFS
- 29.0 ft Low spots in and around altavista begin to flood.
- 32.0 ft Old lane furniture warehouse flooded.
- 32.9 ft Town's filtration plant flooded.
- 42.2 ft Old Lane Furntiure main plant flooded.
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Moderate flood 24.0 ft · 33,089 CFS
- 27.9 ft Filtration plant at hurt begins to flood.
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Minor flood 18.0 ft · 22,799 CFS
- 18.0 ft Water begins to flood lowland pastures/farmlands.
- 23.0 ft Minor lowland flooding.
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Action 16.0 ft · 19,542 CFS
- Right now 1.57 ft
Flow history at Altavista
Daily values from USGS 02060500, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for ALTV2 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Altavista
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 40.08 ft | 105,000 CFS | Aug 15, 1940 |
| 34.45 ft | 62,100 CFS | Sep 8, 1987 |
| 31.27 ft | 57,000 CFS | Oct 20, 1937 |
| 31.23 ft | 52,000 CFS | Oct 16, 1954 |
| 31.10 ft | 55,900 CFS | Sep 19, 1944 |
| 30.84 ft | 54,600 CFS | Dec 4, 1948 |
| 29.60 ft | 47,300 CFS | Aug 19, 1939 |
| 29.30 ft | 49,000 CFS | Oct 18, 1932 |
| 28.44 ft | 38,800 CFS | Jun 23, 1995 |
| 28.30 ft | 44,100 CFS | Sep 19, 1945 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About Roanoke River at Altavista
In Virginia, below Smith Mountain Lake. Releases can change the flow by hundreds of CFS in an hour with no rain in the basin — check it the morning you go, not the night before.
Reservoir feeding this stretch
Flow here is set by releases from Smith Mountain Lake. A full pool usually means more water on its way down.
Roanoke River at Altavista — common questions
3 questions
How do releases from Smith Mountain Lake affect this stretch?
Directly and fast. When the dam generates, flow here can climb by an order of magnitude within the hour, with no rain anywhere in the basin. That sudden release is the real hazard on a tailwater. The pool level is on lakelvl.com, linked below.
Is Roanoke River at Altavista high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for mid-September here is 813 CFS, from 45 years of record (1980–2026). Today is 51% 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 02060500 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for ALTV2 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.