WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Big Sunflower River near Anguilla in MS, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Big Sunflower River near Anguilla is a gauged river in the Big Sunflower watershed, Mississippi.
This station has more than 15 years of record. The highest level in the file is 48.2 ft (14.69 m), set in May 2019. The lowest is 20.83 ft (6.35 m), set in October 2015.
The seasonal pattern fits lowland Gulf hydrology. The river is typically highest in April at 41.96 ft (12.79 m), and typically lowest in October at 21.67 ft (6.6 m). That leaves a typical annual swing of 20.3 ft (6.18 m). For people using nearby land or watching access points, that spread matters more than any single reading: a dock, bank crossing, or intake has to work across a wide range of levels, not just on an average day.
The gauge drains 2579 sq mi (6679 km2) upstream of this station. That is the area feeding this reach, not the wider Big Sunflower basin as a whole.
In this part of Mississippi, winter and spring rains usually set the yearly high water, and tropical systems can push the river up fast. Once the water rises here, slow lowland drainage can keep it elevated for days. That means a high stage can linger, not pass through in a few hours.
For anglers, the practical takeaway is simple: the river can move from workable bank conditions to flooded margins over a season, and it can stay there long enough to change access, clarity, and current in the same spot for several days.
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s level compared with the median for this calendar day, not as a raw elevation by itself. A single height is hard to judge on its own, but a date-based median shows whether the river is running normal for this time of year, above it, or below it.
This page uses USGS data from a station with more than 15 years of record.
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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