WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for East River at Willowton in WV, United States, built from official government gauge data.
East River at Willowton is a river in the Middle New watershed in West Virginia.
The station drains 73.1 sq mi (189 km2) above the gauge, so this is a mountain-sized catchment rather than a broad lowland basin. The record here spans 15 years, which is enough to show a repeatable seasonal shape, even if it is still a short record compared with older gauges.
The highest recorded level was 7.69 ft (2.35 m) in February 2020. The lowest recorded level was 2.56 ft (0.78 m) in August 2021. That spread matters for anyone using the river for access, crossings, or intake placement: the same channel can sit several feet higher in one season than another, and the low-water period can leave little margin.
The typical high point in the year is February at 3.76 ft (1.15 m), while the typical low point is September at 2.8 ft (0.85 m). The usual annual swing is 11.5 in (29.2 cm). In plain terms, this river tends to run higher in late winter and lower toward early autumn, so docks and shallow crossings need to tolerate that shift.
The fastest 24-hour rise is not listed in the facts here, so there is nothing to quote for warning time. For a small Appalachian tributary, sharp rises can still arrive quickly after rain, but this page only reports what the station record shows.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day, using the USGS record at East River at Willowton, WV. That is more useful than raw elevation because it puts today beside what is normal for this date, rather than beside a fixed benchmark that does not tell you whether the river is running high or low for the season. With 15 years on record, the comparison gives cottagers, anglers, and flood-watchers a cleaner read on where the river stands right now.
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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