USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 12213100

Click to hide Water-Year Summary instructions and information

Water-Year Summary reports summarize a year of hydrologic data in a printer-friendly format.
For water years 2014 onward, choose a water year and parameter and an on-demand Water-Year Summary report will be generated.
For water years 2006 through 2013, choose a water year and an Annual Water Data Report will be provided.
For water years 2005 and earlier, Annual Water Data Reports may be available in digital format.
Not all sites have reports available for every water year.

	Available Parameters
	00010 Temperature, water(Max.,Min.,Mean)
	00060 Discharge(Mean)
	00065 Gage height(Mean)
	63680 Turbidity, Form Neph(Min.,Max.,Med.)

Select a water year

Water year 2024: 2024-10-01 to 2025-09-30

Print this page

USGS Water-Year Summary 2024

12213100 NOOKSACK RIVER AT FERNDALE, WA

LOCATION - Lat 48°50'42", long 122°35'17" referenced to North American Datum of 1927, in NE 1/4 NW 1/4 sec.29, T.39 N., R.2 E., Whatcom County, WA, Hydrologic Unit 17110004, on right bank 300 ft downstream from Main Street bridge at Ferndale, and at mile 5.8.

DRAINAGE AREA - 786 mi². of which 48.9 mi² is in Canada.

REVISIONS HISTORY -

WDR WA-83-1: 1971(M), 1976(M), WDR WA-94-1: 1976(M), 1980(M), 1984(M), 1990(M), 1991, 1991(M).

Discharge for the period Apr. 14, 2018, to Aug. 28, 2019, was revised on Apr. 29, 2020, based on changes to the stage-discharge rating.

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Annual maximum stage only, water years 1918, 1922, 1932, 1935, and annual maximum, water years 1946, 1950-66. October 1966 to current year.

GAGE - Water-stage recorder. Datum of gage is 4.61 ft above NGVD of 1929. Prior to July 18, 1968, at site 220 ft upstream at datum 4.21 ft higher.

REMARKS - City of Bellingham diverts up to about 100 ft³/s at times from Middle Fork Nooksack River for municipal use. Cities of Ferndale and Lynden divert about 10 ft³/s for municipal use. Numerous small diversions located upstream for irrigation. Chemical analyses October 1961 to September 1970. U.S. Geological Survey satellite telemeter at station.

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum recorded discharge, 57,000 ft³/s, Nov. 10, 1990, gage height, 23.56 ft, maximum gage height, 23.89 ft, Nov. 16, 2021; minimum daily discharge, 466 ft³/s, Oct. 9, 1987.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - WATER TEMPERATURE: December 2007 to current year. TURBIDITY: October 2011 to September 2012, October 2015 to October 2017 and December 2018 to current year.

INSTRUMENTATION - Water temperature and a DTS-12 turbidity sensor with a 15-minute logging interval. interfaced with a Data Collection Platform/Electronic Datalogger, with 15-minute recording interval, since October 2011. Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

REMARKS - U.S. Geological Survey satellite telemeter at station.

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - WATER TEMPERATURE: Maximum recorded, 20.4°C, July 19, 2015; minimum recorded, -0.2°C, Dec. 19-20, 2022. TURBIDITY: Maximum, >1,600 FNU, Jan. 28, 2016, Sept. 24, 2020, Sept. 18, 2021, Nov. 15, 2021, and Sept. 26, 2023; minimum, 0.1 FNU, Sep. 19, 20, 2012, and Aug. 6, 2022.