Search
Menu

Explore

Hazards

Analysis

Rankings

Reference

Potomac River at Lewisetta (IN MLLW)

Highest listed crest 5.76 ftFlood stage 3.0 ft134 crests since 1985

The Potomac River at Lewisetta (IN MLLW) crested at major flood stage 11 times among the 134 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1985 to 2026. The highest, 5.76 ft on September 1, 2006, was major flooding, 2.76 feet above flood stage.

The gauge

Highest listed crest
5.76 ft
September 1, 2006
Flood stage
3.0 ft
Major flooding from 4.0 ft
Crests at major
11
9th of 242 gauges in Virginia
Most recent flood crest
September 24, 2026
3.96 ft, moderate flooding
Location
Northumberland County
Virginia
Identifiers
NWS LWTV2
No USGS station

Flood stages

The thresholds the National Weather Service uses for this gauge today, and how many listed crests reached each.

Flood categories, Potomac River at Lewisetta (IN MLLW)
Action stage2.51Jan 5, 2019The level at which the NWS or its partners begin to take action
Flood stage (minor)3.087Apr 30, 2026Minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat
Moderate flood stage3.535Sep 24, 2026Some inundation of structures and roads near the stream
Major flood stage4.011Oct 30, 2025Extensive inundation of structures and roads

Every listed crest

134 crests from 1985 to 2026. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.

Listed crests at the Potomac River at Lewisetta (IN MLLW), 1985 to 2026 23456ft Flood stage 3.0 ftMajor 4.0 ft Nov 4, 1985: 4.02 ft, major floodingNov 1, 1991: 3.73 ft, moderate floodingFeb 5, 1998: 3.85 ft, moderate floodingSep 16, 1999: 3.54 ft, moderate floodingSep 18, 2003: 5.47 ft, major floodingSep 1, 2006: 5.76 ft, major floodingNov 13, 2009: 4.11 ft, major floodingDec 19, 2009: 3.26 ft, minor floodingAug 27, 2011: 4.54 ft, major floodingSep 7, 2011: 3.01 ft, minor floodingOct 13, 2011: 3.41 ft, minor floodingOct 29, 2011: 3.17 ft, minor floodingOct 28, 2012: 3.75 ft, moderate floodingNov 8, 2012: 3.13 ft, minor floodingDec 21, 2012: 3.59 ft, moderate floodingMar 6, 2013: 3.42 ft, minor floodingMay 1, 2014: 3.57 ft, moderate floodingOct 4, 2014: 3.78 ft, moderate floodingSep 5, 2015: 3.00 ft, minor floodingSep 26, 2015: 3.41 ft, minor floodingOct 4, 2015: 4.15 ft, major floodingOct 28, 2015: 3.04 ft, minor floodingJan 10, 2016: 3.17 ft, minor floodingFeb 9, 2016: 3.81 ft, moderate floodingFeb 25, 2016: 3.23 ft, minor floodingMay 6, 2016: 3.43 ft, minor floodingSep 3, 2016: 3.47 ft, minor floodingSep 30, 2016: 3.65 ft, moderate floodingJan 23, 2017: 3.34 ft, minor floodingMay 13, 2017: 3.15 ft, minor floodingMay 25, 2017: 3.18 ft, minor floodingJun 8, 2017: 3.10 ft, minor floodingJul 30, 2017: 3.07 ft, minor floodingAug 29, 2017: 3.15 ft, minor floodingSep 2, 2017: 3.07 ft, minor floodingSep 21, 2017: 3.40 ft, minor floodingOct 13, 2017: 3.49 ft, minor floodingNov 9, 2017: 3.26 ft, minor floodingMar 7, 2018: 4.15 ft, major floodingApr 16, 2018: 3.30 ft, minor floodingJun 5, 2018: 3.03 ft, minor floodingJun 11, 2018: 3.01 ft, minor floodingJun 22, 2018: 3.22 ft, minor floodingJul 21, 2018: 3.47 ft, minor floodingSep 10, 2018: 4.45 ft, major floodingSep 14, 2018: 3.40 ft, minor floodingSep 20, 2018: 3.53 ft, moderate floodingSep 25, 2018: 3.44 ft, minor floodingOct 6, 2018: 3.03 ft, minor floodingOct 11, 2018: 3.58 ft, moderate floodingOct 27, 2018: 3.34 ft, minor floodingNov 26, 2018: 3.40 ft, minor floodingDec 2, 2018: 3.09 ft, minor floodingDec 21, 2018: 3.24 ft, minor floodingJan 5, 2019: 2.69 ft, action stageJan 20, 2019: 3.23 ft, minor floodingApr 20, 2019: 3.01 ft, minor floodingMay 7, 2019: 3.02 ft, minor floodingMay 13, 2019: 3.29 ft, minor floodingJun 9, 2019: 3.05 ft, minor floodingAug 26, 2019: 3.61 ft, moderate floodingSep 7, 2019: 3.63 ft, moderate floodingSep 14, 2019: 3.37 ft, minor floodingSep 19, 2019: 3.45 ft, minor floodingSep 30, 2019: 3.05 ft, minor floodingOct 4, 2019: 3.20 ft, minor floodingOct 12, 2019: 4.38 ft, major floodingOct 16, 2019: 3.58 ft, moderate floodingOct 20, 2019: 3.35 ft, minor floodingNov 19, 2019: 3.47 ft, minor floodingDec 1, 2019: 3.06 ft, minor floodingDec 31, 2019: 3.05 ft, minor floodingMar 27, 2020: 3.01 ft, minor floodingApr 1, 2020: 3.47 ft, minor floodingApr 5, 2020: 3.52 ft, moderate floodingApr 30, 2020: 3.61 ft, moderate floodingMay 20, 2020: 3.27 ft, minor floodingJun 16, 2020: 3.02 ft, minor floodingAug 4, 2020: 3.00 ft, minor floodingAug 18, 2020: 3.40 ft, minor floodingSep 12, 2020: 3.23 ft, minor floodingSep 21, 2020: 3.18 ft, minor floodingOct 12, 2020: 3.28 ft, minor floodingOct 31, 2020: 3.07 ft, minor floodingDec 25, 2020: 3.18 ft, minor floodingJan 31, 2021: 3.06 ft, minor floodingApr 13, 2021: 3.06 ft, minor floodingMay 30, 2021: 3.48 ft, minor floodingJun 12, 2021: 3.37 ft, minor floodingSep 23, 2021: 3.56 ft, moderate floodingOct 10, 2021: 3.69 ft, moderate floodingOct 29, 2021: 4.78 ft, major floodingMay 10, 2022: 3.93 ft, moderate floodingSep 9, 2022: 3.42 ft, minor floodingOct 1, 2022: 3.57 ft, moderate floodingDec 15, 2022: 3.54 ft, moderate floodingMar 1, 2023: 3.01 ft, minor floodingMar 13, 2023: 3.50 ft, moderate floodingMay 1, 2023: 3.39 ft, minor floodingJun 5, 2023: 3.41 ft, minor floodingJun 21, 2023: 3.46 ft, minor floodingSep 1, 2023: 3.02 ft, minor floodingSep 23, 2023: 3.95 ft, moderate floodingSep 28, 2023: 3.49 ft, minor floodingOct 14, 2023: 3.08 ft, minor floodingNov 22, 2023: 3.43 ft, minor floodingDec 18, 2023: 3.56 ft, moderate floodingJan 10, 2024: 3.99 ft, moderate floodingJan 31, 2024: 3.19 ft, minor floodingFeb 6, 2024: 3.34 ft, minor floodingFeb 13, 2024: 3.15 ft, minor floodingMar 10, 2024: 3.62 ft, moderate floodingMar 27, 2024: 3.64 ft, moderate floodingApr 4, 2024: 3.35 ft, minor floodingApr 12, 2024: 3.44 ft, minor floodingApr 19, 2024: 3.23 ft, minor floodingMay 4, 2024: 3.14 ft, minor floodingMay 11, 2024: 3.42 ft, minor floodingMay 15, 2024: 3.12 ft, minor floodingAug 9, 2024: 3.20 ft, minor floodingSep 7, 2024: 3.08 ft, minor floodingSep 22, 2024: 3.94 ft, moderate floodingOct 1, 2024: 3.55 ft, moderate floodingNov 15, 2024: 3.56 ft, moderate floodingMay 22, 2025: 3.61 ft, moderate floodingAug 23, 2025: 3.76 ft, moderate floodingSep 9, 2025: 3.16 ft, minor floodingSep 18, 2025: 3.16 ft, minor floodingOct 2, 2025: 3.71 ft, moderate floodingOct 12, 2025: 3.97 ft, moderate floodingOct 19, 2025: 3.30 ft, minor floodingOct 30, 2025: 4.10 ft, major floodingApr 30, 2026: 3.17 ft, minor floodingSep 24, 2026: 3.96 ft, moderate flooding Highest, 5.76 ft, Sep 1, 2006 1990200020102020

Crests at or above flood stage, by decade

Crests at or above flood stage per decade, Potomac River at Lewisetta (IN MLLW) 1980s: 1 1990s: 3 2000s: 4 2010s: 63 63 2020s: 62 1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
  1. 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.
  2. 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

The 50 highest of 134 listed crests.

Highest listed crests, Potomac River at Lewisetta (IN MLLW)
1Sep 1, 20065.76+2.76Major—
2Sep 18, 20035.47+2.47Major—
3Oct 29, 20214.78+1.78Major—
4Aug 27, 20114.54+1.54Major—
5Sep 10, 20184.45+1.45Major—
6Oct 12, 20194.38+1.38Major—
7Oct 4, 20154.15+1.15Major—
8Mar 7, 20184.15+1.15Major—
9Nov 13, 20094.11+1.11Major—
10Oct 30, 20254.10+1.10Major—
11Nov 4, 19854.02+1.02Major—
12Jan 10, 20243.99+0.99Moderate—
13Oct 12, 20253.97+0.97Moderate—
14Sep 24, 20263.96+0.96Moderate—
15Sep 23, 20233.95+0.95Moderate—
16Sep 22, 20243.94+0.94Moderate—
17May 10, 20223.93+0.93Moderate—
18Feb 5, 19983.85+0.85Moderate—
19Feb 9, 20163.81+0.81Moderate—
20Oct 4, 20143.78+0.78Moderate—
21Aug 23, 20253.76+0.76Moderate—
22Oct 28, 20123.75+0.75Moderate—
23Nov 1, 19913.73+0.73Moderate—
24Oct 2, 20253.71+0.71Moderate—
25Oct 10, 20213.69+0.69Moderate—
26Sep 30, 20163.65+0.65Moderate—
27Mar 27, 20243.64+0.64Moderate—
28Sep 7, 20193.63+0.63Moderate—
29Mar 10, 20243.62+0.62Moderate—
30Aug 26, 20193.61+0.61Moderate—
31Apr 30, 20203.61+0.61Moderate—
32May 22, 20253.61+0.61Moderate—
33Dec 21, 20123.59+0.59Moderate—
34Oct 11, 20183.58+0.58Moderate—
35Oct 16, 20193.58+0.58Moderate—
36May 1, 20143.57+0.57Moderate—
37Oct 1, 20223.57+0.57Moderate—
38Sep 23, 20213.56+0.56Moderate—
39Dec 18, 20233.56+0.56Moderate—
40Nov 15, 20243.56+0.56Moderate—
41Oct 1, 20243.55+0.55Moderate—
42Sep 16, 19993.54+0.54Moderate—
43Dec 15, 20223.54+0.54Moderate—
44Sep 20, 20183.53+0.53Moderate—
45Apr 5, 20203.52+0.52Moderate—
46Mar 13, 20233.50+0.50Moderate—
47Oct 13, 20173.49+0.49Minor—
48Sep 28, 20233.49+0.49Minor—
49May 30, 20213.48+0.48Minor—
50Sep 3, 20163.47+0.47Minor—

The worst floods along the Potomac River

For this gauge's highest crests, the other gauges on the Potomac River that crested above flood stage within a week.

September 18, 2003: 5.47 ft here, major flooding

October 29, 2021: 4.78 ft here, major flooding

September 10, 2018: 4.45 ft here, major flooding

Gauges on the Potomac River

Flood gauges sharing the river's name, linked within 80 miles of one another.

Flood gauges on the Potomac River
AlexandriaDC3.38.66 ft, Sep 19, 20032
Edwards FerryMD15.022.45 ft, Jun 5, 20180
Georgetown / Wisconsin AveDC6.017.72 ft, Oct 17, 19429
HancockMD25.047.60 ft, Mar 18, 19368
Harpers FerryMD18.036.50 ft, Mar 19, 193614
Lewisetta (IN MLLW) this gaugeVA3.05.76 ft, Sep 1, 200611
Paw PawMD25.054.00 ft, Mar 18, 19368
Point of RocksMD16.041.03 ft, Mar 19, 193614
ShepherdstownWV15.042.07 ft, Mar 19, 193614
Washington DC (Little Falls)MD10.022.03 ft, Jun 24, 19724

Northumberland County: every hazard · River floods across the country · Virginia

NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge LWTV2, 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.