WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Bear River at Pescadero ID in ID, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Bear River at Pescadero ID sits in the Bear Lake watershed in Idaho.
Over more than 50 years of record at the USGS station, the highest level on file was 5.93 ft (1.81 m) in March 2017. The lowest was 1.7 ft (0.52 m) in October 2007.
The seasonal pattern is fairly clear. The typical high point is July at 5.21 ft (1.59 m), and the typical low point is October at 2.03 ft (0.62 m). That is a typical annual swing of 3.2 ft (96.8 cm). For anyone with a dock, intake, or bank access, that spread matters: what sits comfortably in summer can be close to the edge of use by fall.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed in the facts here, so I will not guess at warning time from this station.
The gauge drains 3705 sq mi (9596 km2) upstream of this station. That is the catchment feeding this reading, not the full Bear Lake watershed.
The regional note fits a snowmelt-driven basin: high-elevation snowpack tends to support an April-June peak, while late summer often settles into lower flow. The record here still shows its highest typical month in July and its lowest in October, so local conditions at this site do not line up perfectly with the broad seasonal pattern. The numbers are the point: this reach carries more water in midsummer than in autumn, and the record low also falls in October.
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s level compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because it tells you whether the river is sitting near its usual range for today, not just how high the staff gauge reads.
This page uses USGS data, and the record spans more than 50 years.
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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