WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for East Lake Outfall at E. Chelsea ST. near Tampa FL in FL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
East Lake Outfall at E. Chelsea ST. near Tampa FL sits in the Tampa Bay watershed, Florida.
The record high is 25.63 ft (7.81 m) in October 2024. The record low is 20.87 ft (6.36 m) in May 2021. That span tells you this water can move through a fairly narrow band, but even a few feet matter for low crossings, outfalls, and any bank-side access.
The seasonal pattern is steady rather than dramatic. The highest typical month is August at 22.16 ft (6.75 m), and the lowest typical month is May at 21.57 ft (6.58 m). The typical annual swing is 7 in (17.9 cm). For a shoreline user, that means the level most often changes by small amounts month to month, but the higher late-summer water can still sit above the spring low for a while.
There is no fastest 24-hour rise listed here, so I won’t guess at short-notice flood behavior from this record alone.
This station’s catchment above the gauge is 1.5 sq mi (3.8 km2). That is the upstream area feeding this reading, not the whole Tampa Bay watershed. At this scale, local rain can matter quickly because a small drainage area responds to nearby storms rather than distant conditions.
The record spans 28 years. That is enough to show a repeatable seasonal cycle at this site, even if individual wet months can still break the pattern. For people using the water for access, drainage, or nearby property checks, the main thing to watch is the late-summer rise against the spring low.
Today’s reading should be read against the median for this calendar day in the station’s record, not just against the raw level. That comparison removes the usual seasonal position of the water and shows whether the outfall is running high or low for this date.
This page is based on USGS data. With more than 28 years on record, the day-of-year median is the better reference for day-to-day use because it tells you what is normal for this date at this station.
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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