Valley Creek near Bessemer water level

What this means

Valley Creek near Bessemer is running below normal at 5.52 ft.

The median for mid-October is 6.42 ft, based on 48 years of readings, so the river stage is 0.90 ft below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 6.26 ft, a difference of −0.74 ft.

It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 5.40 ft and 8.07 ft.

Fall is often low-water season on rivers, and it usually takes a few days of steady rain to change that.

Compared with 48 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date

6.42 ft0.90 ft below the median for this date

Normal for this date

5.51 ft – 7.29 ft8 years in 10 fall in this range (48 years of records)

Same day last year

6.26 ft−0.74 ft

Lowest and highest in 30 days

5.40 ft – 8.07 ft

Lowest and highest in 12 months

5.40 ft – 8.72 ft