Chattahoochee River at Helen
Highest listed crest 12.00 ftFlood stage 6.0 ft11 crests since 1946
The Chattahoochee River at Helen crested at major flood stage 2 times among the 11 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1946 to 2021. The highest, 12.00 ft on August 23, 1967, was major flooding, 6.00 feet above flood stage. 2 other gauges on the Chattahoochee River crested above flood stage within a week of it.
The gauge
- Highest listed crest
- 12.00 ft
- August 23, 1967; 10,500 cubic feet per second
- Flood stage
- 6.0 ft
- Major flooding from 11.0 ft
- Crests at major
- 2
- 52nd of 271 gauges in Georgia
- Most recent flood crest
- May 30, 2018
- 6.44 ft, minor flooding
Flood stages
The thresholds the National Weather Service uses for this gauge today, and how many listed crests reached each.
| Action stage | 4.0 | 3 | Mar 26, 2021 |
| Flood stage (minor) | 6.0 | 4 | May 30, 2018 |
| Moderate flood stage | 8.0 | 2 | Mar 12, 1963 |
| Major flood stage | 11.0 | 2 | Aug 23, 1967 |
Every listed crest
11 crests from 1946 to 2021. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.
Crests at or above flood stage, by decade
- These are the crests the local National Weather Service office lists for the gauge: the highest on record and recent crests. Lesser floods between them may be missing, so counts by decade are a floor.
- Categories use today's flood stages. Levees, dams and channel changes since a crest can make old and new stages not directly comparable.
Highest crests
| 1 | Aug 23, 1967 | 12.00 | +6.00 | Major |
| 2 | Apr 16, 1946 | 11.00 | +5.00 | Major |
| 3 | Mar 11, 1952 | 10.00 | +4.00 | Moderate |
| 4 | Mar 12, 1963 | 10.00 | +4.00 | Moderate |
| 5 | May 28, 1973 | 7.30 | +1.30 | Minor |
| 6 | Sep 17, 2004 | 6.75 | +0.75 | Minor |
| 7 | May 30, 2018 | 6.44 | +0.44 | Minor |
| 8 | Aug 26, 2008 | 6.01 | +0.01 | Minor |
| 9 | Mar 17, 1990 | 5.94 | −0.06 | Action |
| 10 | Mar 17, 1996 | 5.90 | −0.10 | Action |
| 11 | Mar 26, 2021 | 5.45 | −0.55 | Action |
The worst floods along the Chattahoochee River
For this gauge's highest crests, the other gauges on the Chattahoochee River that crested above flood stage within a week.
August 23, 1967: 12.00 ft here, major flooding
- CorneliaGA · Aug 23, 1967 · 18.83 ft · Moderate
- WhitesburgGA · Aug 25, 1967 · 17.58 ft · Minor
March 11, 1952: 10.00 ft here, moderate flooding
- Highway 141 near NorcrossGA · Mar 12, 1952 · 22.00 ft · Major
- AtlantaGA · Mar 13, 1952 · 21.70 ft · Major
- 14th Street at ColumbusAL · Mar 5, 1952 · 32.20 ft · Minor
- WhitesburgGA · Mar 14, 1952 · 20.50 ft · Minor
March 12, 1963: 10.00 ft here, moderate flooding
- CorneliaGA · Mar 12, 1963 · 20.55 ft · Moderate
Gauges on the Chattahoochee River
In USGS station-number order, which runs downstream within a river basin.
| Helen this gauge | GA | 12.00 ft, Aug 23, 1967 | 2 |
| Cornelia | GA | 20.63 ft, Oct 11, 2020 | 0 |
| Highway 141 near Norcross | GA | 27.70 ft, Jan 8, 1946 | 13 |
| Roswell | GA | 11.96 ft, Sep 21, 2009 | 0 |
| Morgan Falls Dam near Roswell | GA | 827.01 ft, Sep 22, 2009 | 1 |
| US 41 at Atlanta | GA | 28.59 ft, Sep 22, 2009 | 5 |
| Atlanta | GA | 29.00 ft, Dec 10, 1919 | 13 |
| GA 280 near Atlanta | GA | 35.98 ft, Sep 22, 2009 | 3 |
| Fairburn | GA | 31.60 ft, Dec 10, 1919 | 2 |
| Whitesburg | GA | 29.74 ft, Sep 23, 2009 | 3 |
| GA 100 at Franklin | GA | 30.55 ft, Sep 24, 2009 | 1 |
| West Point | GA | 29.25 ft, Dec 10, 1919 | 14 |
| 14th Street at Columbus | AL | 55.20 ft, Mar 15, 1929 | 4 |
| W.F. George Lock and Dam | AL | 158.50 ft, Mar 17, 1929 | 0 |
| George W. Andrews Lock and Dam (USACE) | GA | 128.28 ft, Mar 18, 1929 | 1 |
Other gauges in White County
| Cornelia | 20.63 ft, Oct 11, 2020 | 0 |
White County: every hazard · River floods across the country · Georgia
NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge HDCG1, retrieved October 30, 2026. Stages in feet on the gauge's own datum, not elevation. Crests are as the National Weather Service lists them; preliminary values may be revised.