WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Carron (Forth Valley) at Headswood in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Carron (Forth Valley) at Headswood is a gauged river in Scotland.
In this kind of rain-fed system, winter and spring usually carry the higher flows, while the warm season can settle into lower water for longer stretches. The station drains 122 km2 (47.2 sq mi) upstream, so changes in rain over that area show up here in a way that matters for a bank, a crossing, or an intake.
January is the typical high month at 0.41 m (1.36 ft), while June is the typical low month at 0.22 m (0.73 ft). That seasonal swing is modest, but it still sets the range a dock or a shallow-water approach has to live with.
The record high is 1.91 m (6.28 ft) in February 2020. The record low is 0.15 m (0.49 ft) in July 2022. Those two marks show how far this reach has already moved when weather lines up on either side of the seasonal pattern.
The typical annual swing is 19.3 cm (7.6 in), which is the kind of change people notice most on the margins: at a mooring, at a pipe intake, or where a small tributary meets the main channel. With 34 years on record, these extremes carry some weight for local planning and for judging how unusual a fresh rise looks.
The number on the page is best read against the median for this calendar day, not as a stand-alone elevation. A river level can look ordinary in one month and high in another, so the date-based comparison tells you whether today sits near the middle of the station’s history or well outside it.
This station is monitored by SEPA, and its record stretches back more than 34 years. For anyone checking conditions before a visit, that makes the daily comparison more useful than a raw level alone: it puts the present water in the context of what this river usually does on the same day of the year.
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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