Black Bear Creek at Pawnee, OK
River level and flood forecast · Pawnee County
Normal1.3 ftas of Mon 3:30 PM
The river is 15.7 ft below flood stage (17 ft).
Flow: 1 cubic feet per second (USGS).
The last 7 days and the forecast
NWS forecast issued Sun, Dec 31, 6 PM. Forecasts change as rain falls and as upstream water arrives.
Flood stages
| Major flood stage | 25 ft |
| Moderate flood stage | 21 ft |
| Flood stage | 17 ft |
| Action stage | 17 ft |
| Record crest (October 3, 1959) | 31.43 ft |
What floods at each level
From the National Weather Service, highest first.
- 29 ftdamaging flooding occurs from west of Pawnee to its confluence with the Arkansas River. Extreme overflows flood some residences with depths of several feet. Around 10 city blocks are affected. The all-time record flood was 31.4 feet on October 3, 1959. This is an extremely dangerous and life threatening situation.
- 27 ftvery severe flooding occurs from west of Pawnee to its confluence with the Arkansas River. Overflows flood some residences and isolate many other homes. This is similar to the flood of October 5, 1986 when the stage crested at 27.3 feet. This is an extremely dangerous and life threatening situation.
- 25 ftsevere flooding occurs from west of Pawnee to its confluence with the Arkansas River. Overflows isolate or flood some residences. This is an extremely dangerous and life threatening situation.
- 23 ftmoderate agricultural flooding occurs. The access road to the Pawnee Indian Agency and Hospital are closed. The Pawnee County Fairgrounds are flooded.
- 21 ftmoderate agricultural flooding occurs. The Pawnee County Fairgrounds are flooded. The access road to the Pawnee Indian Agency and Hospital becomes impassable.
- 19 ftminor agricultural flooding occurs. The Pawnee County Fairgrounds and some access roads begin to flood.
- 17 ftminor farm and ranchland flooding occurs.
Highest crests on record
- 31.43 ft — October 3, 1959
- 28.19 ft — May 19, 1943
- 28.11 ft — September 30, 1945
- 27.3 ft — May 25, 1908
- 27.3 ft — October 5, 1986
Recent crests: 18.56 ft (May 26, 2019) · 17.08 ft (May 25, 2019) · 23.87 ft (May 23, 2019) · 26.18 ft (May 21, 2019) · 13.79 ft (May 8, 2019)
Up and down the river, and nearby
Not an official source. River levels, forecasts, flood stages and impacts are from the National Weather Service (PAWO2); flow from the U.S. Geological Survey. Readings are provisional. In a flood, follow your local officials and the NWS at weather.gov.