Wilson Creek

RE: using remote information to decide to go to Wilson.

To say that the Watauga gauge is better than the John's gauge or vice versa is just plain wrong. Wilson and the Watauga are separated by a 6000 ft mountain. The two sides can get significantly different amounts of rain. The simple fact of the matter is that the John's gauge measures the water that comes from Wilson gorge, but the gauge is below the run and also measures the flow of another stream, John's River. The Watauga gauge is more or less at the top of its watershed, and can be used to tell what's going to happen at Wilson in a widespread rain event. It is also a useful way of predicting the flow on Wilson. It was remarkable how often the old bridge gauge at the Watauga and Wilson were dead on.

To make a long story short, if the Watauga gauge is rising but not the John's gauge, you might want to think twice about making the trip to Wilson.

Add to this mix, the IFLOWS rain gauges or historic radar data. The Edgemont gauge is in the Wilson watershed. Bailey Camp and Globe are in the John's watershed. I have seen the John's river gauge reading 1000 cfs while Wilson was 6 inches below 0.

Since the hurricanes of 2004, it seems as if John's should be 500 cfs and *rising* before Wilson is running. By 'running,' I mean 3 inches below 0.