Santa Cruz River at Congress Street, AZ

River level and flood forecast · Pima County

Normal-0.5 ftas of Tue 3:45 AM

The river is 12.5 ft below flood stage (12 ft).

Forecast to hold near -0.5 ft through Sun, Oct 18, 4 AM.

Flow: 0 cubic feet per second (USGS).

The last 7 days and the forecast

-5051015WedFriSunTueThuSatAction 11 ftFlood 12 ftModerate 13 ftMajor 15 ftNowObserved (ft)NWS forecast

NWS forecast issued Mon, Oct 12, 5:57 PM. Forecasts change as rain falls and as upstream water arrives.

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Flood stages

Major flood stage15 ft
Moderate flood stage13 ft
Flood stage12 ft
Action stage11 ft
Record crest (October 2, 1983)22.2 ft

What floods at each level

From the National Weather Service, highest first.

  • 15 ftSections of soil-cement protectio overtopped and could fail, leading to widespread flooding.
  • 13 ftSilverbell Rd threatened between El Camino del Cerro and Ina Rd. Possible damage to bridge abutments along entire reach.
  • 12 ftBank erosion likely outside soil cement protection, maily on left bank just downstream of Christopher Columbus Park and north of El Camino del Cerro. Inundation of gravel pits downstream towards the Rillito River begins.
  • 11 ftLow areas of the Santa Cruz River Trail are inundated.

Highest crests on record

  1. 22.2 ft — October 2, 1983
  2. 11.67 ft — August 23, 2005
  3. 11.67 ft — January 19, 1993
  4. 10.72 ft — July 31, 2007
  5. 10.21 ft — September 15, 2011

Recent crests: 10.21 ft (September 15, 2011) · 9.83 ft (July 31, 2010) · 5.76 ft (July 4, 2009) · 5.78 ft (July 20, 2008) · 10.72 ft (July 31, 2007)

Up and down the river, and nearby

Not an official source. River levels, forecasts, flood stages and impacts are from the National Weather Service (TSCA3); flow from the U.S. Geological Survey. Readings are provisional. In a flood, follow your local officials and the NWS at weather.gov.