WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Duck Creek near Howard in WI, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Duck Creek in the Lower Fox watershed, Wisconsin, is a USGS river station.
The record at this station runs back more than 38 years.
The highest water in the file is 18.87 ft (5.75 m) in April 2026. The lowest is 10.86 ft (3.31 m) in August 2022. That gap matters on the ground: docks, pumps, and low banks that work at one end of the record may not at the other.
The seasonal pattern is modest but clear. March is the typical high month at 12.58 ft (3.83 m), and September is the typical low month at 11.11 ft (3.39 m). The usual annual swing is 17.6 in (44.7 cm), so this creek changes enough through the year to matter for intakes and shoreline access, but not in the way a large river does.
For people watching this water, spring is the time to expect the higher side of the year, while late summer and early fall tend to sit lower.
The station drains 108 sq mi (280 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding this reading, not the whole Lower Fox watershed.
For a creek in this part of Wisconsin, that upstream area is large enough that local rain and snowmelt can show up at the station, but the daily signal still reflects what happens in the drainage above the gauge.
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for the same calendar day, not against the station’s absolute elevation. A level can look high or low in isolation and still be ordinary for that date; the day-of-year comparison shows whether Duck Creek is running above its usual range right now.
This station is operated by the USGS, and the record spans more than 38 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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