Updated Oct 31, 2026, 12:56 PM ET. Values are provisional USGS data and can be revised.
| Waterfall | Flow now | vs. month avg. | Avg. by month | Gauge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernal and Nevada Falls Yosemite National Park, CA | 9.05 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:30 PM ET | 16% | peak May, low Sep | USGS 11264500 Merced River at Happy Isles, below the two falls |
| Snoqualmie Falls Snoqualmie, WA | 648 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:30 PM ET | 30% | peak May, low Aug | USGS 12144500 Snoqualmie River near the town of Snoqualmie |
| Spokane Falls Spokane, WA | 2,000 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:30 PM ET | 96% | peak May, low Aug | USGS 12422500 Spokane River in downtown Spokane |
| Great Falls of the Potomac Virginia and Maryland | 2,350 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 11:50 AM ET | 48% | peak May, low Oct | USGS 01646500 Potomac River downstream, near Little Falls |
| Minnehaha Falls Minneapolis, MN | 8.33 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:00 PM ET | 9% | peak May, low Feb | USGS 05289800 Minnehaha Creek at Hiawatha Avenue, above the falls |
| High Falls of the Genesee Rochester, NY | 1,070 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:30 PM ET | 64% | peak Mar, low Sep | USGS 04231600 Genesee River in Rochester, above the falls |
| Great Falls of the Passaic Paterson, NJ | 296 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:30 PM ET | 49% | peak Apr, low Oct | USGS 01389500 Passaic River at Little Falls, upstream |
| Cumberland Falls Kentucky | 196 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:00 PM ET | 37% | peak Feb, low Oct | USGS 03404000 Cumberland River at Williamsburg, upstream |
| Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park, WY | 556 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:30 PM ET | 76% | peak Jun, low Jan | USGS 06186500 Yellowstone River at the lake outlet, upstream |
| Willamette Falls Oregon City, OR | 8,030 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:50 PM ET | 63% | peak Jan, low Aug | USGS 14191000 Willamette River at Salem, upstream |
| Saint Anthony Falls Minneapolis, MN | 9,250 cfs Oct 31, 2026, 12:00 PM ET | 44% | peak May, low Feb | USGS 05331000 Mississippi River at St. Paul, downstream |
Provisional USGS data, as reported at the time shown. Not for navigation, flood or safety decisions.
How to read the table
Flow now is the most recent instantaneous discharge the gauge reported, in cubic feet per second. vs. month avg. compares it with the average daily flow for the same calendar month over 2016 to 2025, which we calculate from the USGS daily values. 100% means a typical day for the month; 300% means three times the usual water.
The small line shows the average for each month from January to December. Snowmelt rivers such as the Merced in Yosemite and the Yellowstone peak in late spring and early summer; rain-fed rivers in the Pacific Northwest, such as the Snoqualmie and the Willamette, run highest from November to January; eastern rivers are usually fullest in late winter and spring.
Average flow by month (cfs)
| Waterfall | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernal and Nevada Falls | 127 | 171 | 268 | 838 | 1,432 | 1,240 | 466 | 108 | 38 | 58 | 67 | 76 |
| Snoqualmie Falls | 3,587 | 3,338 | 2,836 | 3,164 | 3,895 | 2,863 | 1,068 | 513 | 602 | 2,140 | 3,600 | 3,731 |
| Spokane Falls | 4,575 | 6,722 | 9,905 | 13,125 | 13,688 | 6,472 | 1,769 | 952 | 1,193 | 2,082 | 3,426 | 5,021 |
| Great Falls of the Potomac | 13,118 | 18,372 | 14,635 | 15,375 | 20,332 | 11,369 | 5,731 | 5,834 | 8,204 | 4,940 | 7,744 | 10,062 |
| Minnehaha Falls | 11 | 9 | 36 | 89 | 128 | 127 | 111 | 97 | 95 | 92 | 56 | 27 |
| High Falls of the Genesee | 3,931 | 3,986 | 4,871 | 4,574 | 3,246 | 1,632 | 1,465 | 933 | 871 | 1,674 | 2,747 | 2,879 |
| Great Falls of the Passaic | 1,680 | 1,428 | 1,806 | 1,933 | 1,490 | 753 | 728 | 815 | 654 | 600 | 943 | 1,631 |
| Cumberland Falls | 4,419 | 9,473 | 5,472 | 4,119 | 3,259 | 1,517 | 1,396 | 1,285 | 759 | 525 | 1,033 | 3,125 |
| Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone | 377 | 404 | 520 | 603 | 1,533 | 4,336 | 3,598 | 1,781 | 1,005 | 727 | 592 | 456 |
| Willamette Falls | 43,841 | 30,483 | 30,146 | 28,064 | 20,201 | 13,009 | 7,523 | 6,940 | 8,156 | 12,747 | 21,619 | 32,669 |
| Saint Anthony Falls | 10,305 | 9,174 | 20,434 | 38,983 | 40,567 | 31,495 | 27,765 | 16,824 | 15,535 | 20,987 | 15,325 | 11,327 |
Monthly averages calculated by outdoorstime from USGS daily mean discharge, 2016 to 2025. The highest month is in bold.
Questions
What does cfs mean?
Cubic feet per second: the volume of water passing a point each second. One cfs is about 7.48 gallons per second, or 448.8 gallons per minute.
Is a higher flow better for seeing a waterfall?
More water makes a fuller, louder falls; very high flow also brings closures of trails and overlooks near the water. The table shows each river's average by month so you can compare.
Why is the gauge not at the waterfall?
USGS gauges sit where the river channel can be measured accurately. Each row says where the gauge is relative to the falls; with no large tributary in between, the flow is close to what goes over the falls.
Convert any of these numbers with the CFS converter.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Water Data API (latest continuous values and daily values), U.S. public domain. Gauge numbers link to nothing official here; search them on waterdata.usgs.gov.