2025-12-20T00:00:00-07:00
...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT... West west winds of 20-35 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph in wind prone areas near the base of the foothills will continue into this evening. They will also be spreading east onto the nearby adjacent plains and I-25 Corridor through late evening and overnight. While the Particularly Dangerous Situation for the foothills of Boulder and northern Jefferson Counties has eased, Red Flag conditions will remain in place as we stay in a near record warm, dry, and windy airmass along the Front Range through midnight. In fact, strong, gusty winds will persist through much of the night with only a slow improvement in humidity values. Thus, near critical Red Flag conditions will occur into early Saturday morning. * AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zones 238, 240, 241, 242 and 243. * TIMING...Until midnight MST tonight. * WINDS...West 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph west of I-25. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 14 percent. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a spark and start a wildfire.
Summary
Total streamflow across the
Blackwater River
was last observed at
482
cfs, and is expected to yield approximately
956
acre-ft of water today; about 23%
of normal.
River levels are low and may signify a drought.
Average streamflow for this time of year is
2,082 cfs,
with recent peaks last observed
on
2013-06-04 when daily discharge volume was observed at
22,386 cfs.
Maximum discharge along the river is currently at the
Blackwater River Near Franklin
reporting a streamflow rate of 243 cfs.
However, the streamgauge with the highest stage along the river is the
Blackwater River Near Dendron
with a gauge stage of 32.55 ft.
This river is monitored from 9 different streamgauging stations along the Blackwater River, the highest being situated at an altitude of 3,138 ft, the
Blackwater R Nr Davis.
River Details
| Last Updated | 2025-12-19 |
| Discharge Volume | 956 ACRE-FT |
| Streamflow |
482.0 cfs
-17.0 cfs (-3.41%) |
| Percent of Normal | 23.15% |
| Maximum |
22,386.0 cfs
2013-06-04 |
| Seasonal Avg | 2,082 cfs |
River Streamflow Levels
| Streamgauge | Streamflow | Gauge Stage | 24hr Change (%) | % Normal | Minimum (cfs) | Maximum (cfs) | Air Temp | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Blackwater R Nr Davis
USGS 03065400 |
132 cfs | 1.81 ft | ||||||
|
Blackwater R At Davis
USGS 03066000 |
239 cfs | 2.75 ft | 119.27 | |||||
|
Blackwater River Near Rocky Mount
USGS 02056900 |
62 cfs | 1.98 ft | 10.64 | |||||
|
Blackwater River At Blue Lick
USGS 06908000 |
25 cfs | 6.88 ft | -5.24 | |||||
|
Blackwater River Near Webster
USGS 01087000 |
19 cfs | 1.91 ft | ||||||
|
Blackwater River Near Bradley Al
USGS 02369800 |
89 cfs | 1.2 ft | 146.54 | |||||
|
Blackwater River Nr Baker
USGS 02370000 |
92 cfs | 1.3 ft | 34.71 | |||||
|
Blackwater River Near Dendron
USGS 02047500 |
134 cfs | 32.55 ft | -2.19 | |||||
|
Blackwater River Near Franklin
USGS 02049500 |
243 cfs | 4.02 ft | -3.95 |
Seasonal Discharge Comparison
Maximum Streamflow Discharge
Streamflow Elevation Profile
A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling tea. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial studies, geology, geography, ecology, and biology. Not all dark rivers are blackwater in that technical sense. Some rivers in temperate regions, which drain or flow through areas of dark black loam, are simply black due to the color of the soil; these rivers are black mud rivers. There are also black mud estuaries.
Blackwater rivers are lower in nutrients than whitewater rivers and have ionic concentrations higher than rainwater. The unique conditions lead to flora and fauna that differ from both whitewater and clearwater rivers. The classification of Amazonian rivers into black, clear, and whitewater was first proposed by Alfred Russel Wallace in 1853 based on water colour, but the types were more clearly defined by chemistry and physics by Harald Sioli (de) from the 1950s to the 1980s. Although many Amazonian rivers fall clearly into one of these categories, others show a mix of characteristics and may vary depending on season and flood levels.