Cumberland River at Williamsburg, KY
River level and flood forecast · Whitley County
Normal3.5 ftas of Mon 4 PM
The river is 17.5 ft below flood stage (21 ft).
Forecast to fall to 3.2 ft by Sat, Oct 17, 8 AM.
Flow: 546 cubic feet per second (USGS).
The last 7 days and the forecast
NWS forecast issued Mon, Oct 12, 10:22 AM. Forecasts change as rain falls and as upstream water arrives.
Flood stages
| Major flood stage | 32 ft |
| Moderate flood stage | 27.5 ft |
| Flood stage | 21 ft |
| Action stage | 17 ft |
| Record crest (April 7, 1977) | 35.03 ft |
What floods at each level
From the National Weather Service, highest first.
- 39.4 ftThe levee and floodwall will begin to overtop.
- 37 ftFloodwall is threatened. Full evacuation of the Williamsburg downtown area is necessary.
- 36 ftOvertopping or failure of levee and floodwall is possible.
- 35.03 ftFlooding will exceed the highest flood on record.
- 31 ftFlooding threatens many homes and businesses. Roads begin to flood, severing evacuation routes. Major flooding threatens downtown area.
- 25 ftLow lying areas along George Hayes Road flood.
- 21 ftFlooding threatens low lying roads and structures.
Highest crests on record
- 35.03 ft — April 7, 1977
- 35.02 ft — February 8, 2020
- 34.54 ft — March 15, 1975
- 33.78 ft — January 31, 1957
- 31.96 ft — February 13, 1994
Recent crests: 31.19 ft (February 18, 2025) · 30.71 ft (March 30, 2021) · 24.64 ft (March 2, 2021) · 23.02 ft (May 21, 2020) · 24.88 ft (April 14, 2020)
Up and down the river, and nearby
Not an official source. River levels, forecasts, flood stages and impacts are from the National Weather Service (WLBK2); flow from the U.S. Geological Survey. Readings are provisional. In a flood, follow your local officials and the NWS at weather.gov.