Alabama River near Montgomery, AL. Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Alabama River near Montgomery, AL. in AL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location AL, United States
- Watershed upper alabama
- Primary gauge 02420000 (USGS)
About Alabama River near Montgomery, AL.
The Alabama River near Montgomery sits in the Upper Alabama watershed in Alabama.
The watershed
The station drains 15,087 sq mi (39,075 km2) upstream of this point. That is the area feeding the gauge, not the whole river system.
For people along this reach, the record range shows what the water can do. The highest level in the record is 54.97 ft (16.76 m) in May 1978. The lowest is 1.99 ft (0.61 m) in August 1996.
What the numbers say
The seasonal pattern is steady enough to matter. March is the typical high month at 28.51 ft (8.69 m), while September is the typical low month at 27.13 ft (8.27 m). The typical annual swing is 16.5 in (41.9 cm).
That is not a large month-to-month spread for a river of this size, but it still matters for docks, ramps, and intakes. In this Gulf South setting, winter and spring tend to set the annual peaks, while long warm-season lows can hold through late summer unless a storm changes the pattern.
With 50 years on record, this gauge gives a decent local history for seeing where normal ends and an unusual stage begins.
Reading the hero number
The number shown on the page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you how today sits against the usual seasonal level for this date, not just how high the water is in isolation.
This is a USGS station, and the calendar-day median is the better way to judge whether the river is running high, low, or near normal for the time of year.
How this page is built
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Alerts that watch the water for you
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Where Nibi comes from
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Coverage
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
Free forever, funded by members
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
Water Stories
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How every number is computed - About the platform
