WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Avon (Forth Valley) at Polmonthill in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Avon (Forth Valley) at Polmonthill is a gauged river in Scotland.
January is the highest typical month at 0.75 m (2.47 ft), while July is the lowest at 0.48 m (1.57 ft). That winter-to-summer drop is the shape to keep in mind for docks, intakes, and bank access. The typical annual swing is 27.3 cm (10.7 in), so the river usually moves enough over the year to change how much bank is wet, how shallow a launch feels, and where fish hold in slower reaches.
The station drains 195 km2 (75.4 sq mi) upstream of the gauge, so rain over that area is what reaches this point. In a rain-driven setting, winter and spring often bring the higher side of the year, and a wet late summer or autumn can still push the river up quickly.
The highest level in the record is 2.42 m (7.94 ft) in December 1994. The lowest is 0 m (0 ft) in April 2007. Those two ends show how far this river can move at Polmonthill: from a very high flood-season level to a flat minimum.
With 34 years on record, the station has enough history to give useful bounds on what the river has already shown here. For people living or fishing on the Avon, that matters because the recorded range is the reality the reach has already reached, not just a theoretical flood line.
The hero number on this page compares today’s level with the median for this calendar day, using the station’s own record at SEPA. That is more useful than raw elevation because a level on its own means little without the time of year; the same reading can be ordinary in one season and high in another.
At Polmonthill, that comparison is grounded in more than 34 years of measurements, so it tells you whether the river is running near its usual date-based middle or sitting well above or below it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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