About this river
South Skunk River is a 13.8 mile river near Big Creek Marina in Iowa. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge South Skunk River below Ioway Creek near Ames, IA (site 05471000). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 5. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1953 to 2026
South Skunk River typically runs highest in June, at a median 474 cfs, and lowest in September, at 33 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 26,300 cfs, in 2010.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45 | 6.1 to 142 | |
| February | 66 | 21 to 182 | |
| March | 303 | 111 to 667 | |
| April | 355 | 153 to 704 | |
| May | 444 | 222 to 796 | |
| June | 474 | 204 to 978 | |
| July | 185 | 83 to 433 | |
| August | 66 | 17 to 176 | |
| September | 33 | 6.2 to 132 | |
| October | 52 | 3.8 to 288 | |
| November | 94 | 11 to 264 | |
| December | 68 | 11 to 205 |
Typical is the median of each month’s daily median values, and the usual range runs from the median 25th to the median 75th percentile, across about 62 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for South Skunk River below Ioway Creek near Ames, IA (site 05471000). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Boat access nearby
One mapped launch sits in the mapped area of South Skunk River. Ramp data comes from the USGS national boat-ramp inventory.
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show South Skunk River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
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