Toutle River at Tower Road, near Silver Lake, WA
Southwest Washington · USGS gauge 14242580 · Updated Oct 24, 3:19 AM PDT · USGS data, provisional
Reading time: Oct 24, 2:45 AM PDT · Provisional data
Flow is in a typical range for the date. Rivers are generally easiest to fish and float when they are near their normal flow, but this status says nothing about water clarity, hatches, hazards such as wood in the river, or dam releases.
- Vs. normal for this date
- 24th percentile
- Typical range (25th–75th)
- 467–1,440 cfs
- Median for this date
- 702 cfs
- 7-day low / high
- 284 / 482 cfs
Plain-language explanation
Toutle River at Tower Road, near Silver Lake is flowing at 457 cubic feet per second (cfs) as of Oct 24, 2:45 AM PDT. That is on the low side for this time of year: lower than about 76% of the daily flows this gauge has recorded for this date (give or take 7 days) over 46 years of record (1981–2026).
The middle half of those historical flows runs from 467 to 1,440 cfs, with a median of 702 cfs; the lowest 10% of days are at or below 362 cfs and the highest 10% at or above 2,510 cfs.
Over the last 24 hours the flow has been steady (-2.6%). In the last 7 days it ranged from 284 to 482 cfs.
Why this status: Flow is within the range this gauge normally sees at this time of year (or the deviation is too small in absolute terms to matter).
7-day trend
Hourly flow in cfs, Pacific time. The shaded band is the typical range (25th–75th percentile) for this date, shown when it falls within the chart.
| Day (Pacific) | Mean cfs | Percentile | Status that day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Oct 18 | 306 | 5th | Too low |
| Mon Oct 19 | 301 | 4th | Too low |
| Tue Oct 20 | 294 | 2nd | Too low |
| Wed Oct 21 | 373 | 15th | Fishable/Floatable |
| Thu Oct 22 | 465 | 28th | Fishable/Floatable |
| Fri Oct 23 | 470 | 27th | Fishable/Floatable |
| Sat Oct 24 (so far) | 458 | 24th | Fishable/Floatable |
Seasonal context
Shaded band: 10th–90th percentile of daily flows through the year; dashed line: median. Log scale. Dot: today's flow. Based on 46 years of USGS daily data (1981–2026).
About this gauge
- USGS site
- USGS-14242580
- USGS name
- Toutle River At Tower Road Near Silver Lake, Wa
- Drainage area
- 496 sq mi
- Location
- 46.3350, -122.8408
- Record in this analysis
- 1981–2026
Typical uses
Notes: Carries heavy sediment from the Mt. St. Helens area; can turn muddy quickly after rain. (Hand-written general note, not from USGS data.)
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