WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Findhorn at Forres in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Findhorn at Forres is a gauged river in Scotland.
The station drains 782 km2 (302 sq mi) above the gauge. That is the land area feeding this reach, so rain on that ground is what shows up in the river here.
For people who draw water, launch a boat, or fish from the bank, the seasonal pattern matters more than any single reading. The highest typical month is January at 0.78 m (2.55 ft), while the lowest typical month is July at 0.35 m (1.15 ft). That is the usual winter-to-summer drop at this site, and it is the kind of swing a dock, intake, or shallow riffle has to live with.
The long record also shows wider extremes. The record high is 2.78 m (9.12 ft) in July 1997, and the record low is 0.07 m (0.23 ft) in August 1982. Those are the edges of what this gauge has seen, not the everyday range.
The typical annual swing is 42.4 cm (16.7 in), which gives a quick sense of how much the river normally moves through the year. On this gauge, winter is the higher season and July is the lower one, which fits a rain-fed pattern with a warm-season low-water stretch.
The record high in July 1997 stands out because it arrived in a month that is usually near the low end. The record low in August 1982 does the same from the other side. For anyone watching access, fish habitat, or a low intake, those records show how far beyond the usual seasonal pattern this reach can go.
SEPA’s reading is best compared with the median for the same calendar day, not with the raw level alone. A river can look high or low on an absolute scale and still be normal for that date if the seasonal cycle is strong.
That is why the page centers today’s value against the station’s own history. This gauge has more than half a century of record behind it, so the comparison reflects what is typical here, not just what the staff gauge says at one moment.
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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