Big River at Byrnesville Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Big River at Byrnesville in MO, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location MO, United States
- Watershed big 0104
- Primary gauge 07018500 (USGS)
About Big River at Byrnesville
What the record shows
Big River at Byrnesville is a river gauge in the Big watershed, Missouri.
The record here stretches across more than 50 years. The highest stage on file is 29.59 ft (9.02 m) in May 2017. The lowest is 1.16 ft (0.35 m) in July 2012. That is a wide range for anyone watching a low-water crossing, taking a canoe out, or checking a riverside pump.
The seasonal pattern is clear enough to plan around. April is the typical high-water month at 5.64 ft (1.72 m), while October is the typical low-water month at 2.15 ft (0.66 m). The typical annual swing is 3.5 ft (1.06 m). For a dock, intake, or bank access point, that is the range it has to live with over the year.
The fastest 24-hour rise is not listed in the facts here, so I will not guess at warning time. In this part of the country, rainfall can push water up in any season, and spring is often the fastest period for change.
The watershed
The station drains 917 sq mi (2,375 km2) upstream of the gauge.
That number belongs to this site, not to the whole named watershed. It tells you the area that can send water to the gauge after rain. For farmers, that matters when fields shed runoff toward the channel. For anglers, it helps frame how quickly the river can respond after a storm. For anyone near the banks, it is the scale that sets the stage for both high water and low water.
Reading the hero number
The number at the top of the page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day, not with the gauge’s full range. A stage that sits above the day’s median is higher than normal for this date; one below it is lower than normal for this date. That is a better check for local conditions than raw elevation alone.
This station is operated by the USGS. With more than 50 years on record, it has enough history to put today’s reading into context against the river’s own pattern rather than a single past event.
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.
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How every number is computed - About the platform
