Patuxent River near Unity, MD
River level and flood forecast · Montgomery County
The river is 5.5 ft below flood stage (8 ft).
Flow: 43 cubic feet per second (USGS).
The last 7 days and the forecast
NWS forecast issued Sun, Dec 31, 7 PM. Forecasts change as rain falls and as upstream water arrives.
Get flood alerts for this river
An email when the National Weather Service forecasts Patuxent River near Unity to flood, when it floods, and when it's over.
Flood stages
| Major flood stage | 18 ft |
| Moderate flood stage | 11 ft |
| Flood stage | 8 ft |
| Action stage | 7 ft |
| Record crest (September 11, 1971) | 18.6 ft |
What floods at each level
From the National Weather Service, highest first.
- 11 ftHoward Chapel Road is flooded at the Patuxent River.
- 8 ftThe parking lot for the Patuxent River State Park at Maryland Route 97 begins to flood.
Highest crests on record
- 18.6 ft — September 11, 1971
- 16.1 ft — June 22, 1972
- 14.35 ft — July 21, 1956
- 13.58 ft — August 1, 1945
- 12.69 ft — September 26, 1975
Recent crests: 8.54 ft (September 23, 2021) · 9.15 ft (November 1, 2019) · 8 ft (November 1, 2019) · 8.01 ft (July 8, 2019) · 8.6 ft (July 22, 2018)
Up and down the river, and nearby
- DownstreamPatuxent River below Brighton Dam, MD
- CATTAIL CREEK NEAR GLENWOOD, MD, MD
- Hawlings River near Sandy Spring, MD
- Little Seneca Creek Tributary at Brink, MD, MD
- LITTLE SENECA CREEK TRIBUTARY NEAR CLARKSBURG, MD, MD
- Paint Branch Tributary Near Colesville, MD, MD
- Turkey Branch near Aspen Hill, MD
- Northwest Branch at Kemp Mill, MD
Not an official source. River levels, forecasts, flood stages and impacts are from the National Weather Service (PRUM2); flow from the U.S. Geological Survey. Readings are provisional. In a flood, follow your local officials and the NWS at weather.gov.