The Potomac Highlands Watershed School 

Real Time Data

There are a large number of electronic instruments capturing real-time environmental data throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed that you can download via the internet.  Suggestion: you can compare weather and water conditions in your watershed with another.  

Check out:

 

Bay Buoy picture courtesy of Kim Couranz, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office.

CURRENT PRECIPITATION DATA

Precipitation data for the past 24 hours at numerous automated mountaintop sites in the Washington DC region, concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.

It is not just the government and television stations that collect weather information.  Because everyone is interested in the weather, so do real people all over the country.  People have installed automated weather stations outside their homes, connected them via computer to the internet, and upload their data in real-time to the Weather Underground.   Try clicking on the Weather Underground link, and entering the zip code for your school in the "search" box to see what a neighbor's weather station tells you about the weather near your school.

FLOOD FORECASTS & ARCHIVED PRECIPITATION DATA

The Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center provides daily river forecasts for the Susquehanna, Potomac, Shenandoah, Rappahannock, James, Appomattox, and other rivers.  They issue Flash Flood Guidance, Short and Long Term Probabilistic Forecasts, and graphical presentations of hydrologic information.

            Current River Forecasts provides observed (current) conditions.  Tabs on the page provide forecasts for river levels and precipitation. 

            MARFC Archives provides precipitation information going back to 1997.  Maps are available for research that show the monthly precipitation departure (the rainfall amount above or below normal).   From 2004 on, data tables are available showing daily rainfall by month.  It is possible to research rain fall and river levels during storm events, hurricanes, and floods.

 

RIVER FLOW & WATER DATA

The U.S. Geological Service maintains river gauge stations all over the country.  In the table below you will find direct links to some stations on major rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.   Links to many more stations are available for all 50 states, including:

Delaware

Maryland

New York

Pennsylvania

Virginia

West Virginia, &

D.C. 

Click on Map above for GoogleMap links to major river sites.

These links provide graphic and tabular stream flow data at stations throughout each state, for as much as 60 days of current data.  Use the blue box part way down the page to set search dates.  With a few clicks of the mouse, you can see data from before the 60 day period too.  Archived data for previous years is available by following the “Summary of all available data” link just below the blue box.  Try exploring floods that you remember.

 

REAL-TIME WATER DATA FOR SELECTED MAJOR (AND A FEW MINOR) RIVERS

IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED

NAME

STATE

WATERSHED AREA (sq. mi.)

SUSQUEHANNA R near WAVERLEY

NY

 4773

SUSQUEHANNA R, W BR AT KARTHUS

PA

1462

SUSQUEHANNA R W BR AT JERSEY SHORE

PA

5225

SUSQUEHANNA R NEAR WILKES-BARRE

PA

9960

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AT DANVILLE

PA

11,220

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AT MARIETTA

PA

25990

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AT CONOWINGO, MD

MD

27100

NORTH BRANCH PATAPSCO RIVER AT CEDARHURST

MD

 57

PATUXENT RIVER NEAR UNITY

MD

35

PATUXENT RIV NEAR LAUREL

MD

132

NORTH BRANCH POTOMAC RIVER AT LUKE

MD

406

PATTERSON CREEK NEAR HEADSVILLE

WV

 221

SOUTH BRANCH POTOMAC R NEAR SPRINGFIELD

WV

 1461

POTOMAC RIVER AT PAW PAW

MD

3129

CACAPON RIVER NR GREAT CACAPON

WV

 675

POTOMAC RIVER AT HANCOCK

MD

4064

CONOCOCHEAGUE CREEK AT FAIRVIEW, MD

MD

 494

OPEQUON CR NEAR MARTINSBURG

WV

 273

S F SHENANDOAH RIVER NEAR LYNNWOOD

VA

 1079

S F SHENANDOAH RIVER AT FRONT ROYAL

VA

 1634

N F SHENANDOAH RIVER NEAR STRASBURG

VA

 770

SHENANDOAH RIVER AT MILLVILLE, WV

WV

3041

POTOMAC RIVER AT POINT OF ROCKS

MD

9651

MONOCACY RIVER AT BRIDGEPORT

MD

173

MONOCACY RIVER AT MONOCACY BLVD AT FREDERICK, MD

MD

703

MONOCACY RIVER AT JUG BRIDGE NEAR FREDERICK

MD

817

POTOMAC RIVER NEAR WASH, DC LITTLE FALLS PUMP STA

DC

11560

NE BRANCH ANACOSTIA RIVER AT RIVERDALE

MD

73

NW BRANCH ANACOSTIA RIVER NEAR HYATTSVILLE

MD

49

RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER AT REMINGTON

VA

619

RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER NEAR FREDERICKSBURG, VA VA 1595
PAMUNKEY RIVER NEAR HANOVER, VA, YORK WATERSHED VA 1078
JAMES RIVER AT BLUE RIDGE PKWY NR BIG ISLAND, VA VA 3076
JAMES RIVER AT SCOTTSVILLE, VA VA 4581
JAMES RIVER NEAR RICHMOND VA 6753