WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Berry Bayou at Nevada St, Houston in TX, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Berry Bayou sits in the Buffalo-San Jacinto watershed in Texas.
This USGS station drains 4.9 sq mi (12.8 km2) above the gauge, so the numbers here describe a small upstream area, not the whole watershed.
For people watching the water near Houston, the record range matters more than the map label. The highest level in the record is 26.65 ft (8.12 m), set in August 2017. The lowest is 15.24 ft (4.64 m), set in April 2025. That spread tells you this bayou can move from low water to a much higher stage in the same record window, which is what flood-watchers and nearby property owners need to keep in mind.
The seasonal pattern is tight. The typical high point is January at 15.52 ft (4.73 m), and the typical low point is April at 15.5 ft (4.72 m). The typical annual swing is 0.3 in (0.7 cm). That is a small seasonal range, so day-to-day changes from rain matter more than a broad winter-to-spring cycle.
In flash-flood country, that means the bayou can sit low for long stretches, then jump quickly when rainfall arrives. I do not have a fastest 24-hour rise for this station in the facts, so I will not guess at warning time. Use the live reading instead of the calendar alone.
The hero number on this page is the current reading compared with the median for this calendar day, which is more useful than raw elevation because it shows whether today is ordinary for this date at this station.
This gauge has about 20 years on record, and that local history is what makes the comparison useful. Water Survey of Canada and CEHQ are not the source here; this station is published by the USGS, so the daily median is the right yardstick for Berry Bayou at Nevada St, Houston.
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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