WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Garnock at Kilwinning in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Garnock at Kilwinning is a gauged river in SC.
This station has 49 years on record, so the daily pattern has enough history to show both ordinary seasonal movement and the extremes the reach can reach.
The record high is 1.97 m (6.45 ft), set in March 1987. That is the top end of what this river has shown here, and it matters for anyone with bankside access, low crossings, or equipment kept close to the water.
The record low is 0 m (0 ft), set in April 1978. That tells you the gauge has also seen very low water here, which is the sort of condition that can affect intakes, shallow launches, and fish holding in the slackest parts of the reach.
Seasonally, the highest month is January at 0.6 m (1.98 ft), while the lowest month is June at 0.37 m (1.21 ft). The typical annual swing is 23.4 cm (9.2 in). In this part of the UK, that winter-high, early-summer-low pattern fits a rain-driven river: the wetter part of the year does most of the lifting, and the warmer season tends to run lower.
The station drains 184 km2 (71 sq mi) upstream of the gauge. For a river of this size, that catchment area is large enough that a wet spell can move the river noticeably, but the daily rhythm still reflects local rainfall and seasonal runoff more than anything else.
Because the watershed is not named separately here, the useful focus is this reach and what it does through the year. January’s higher typical level and June’s lower typical level are the main cues for planning around the river, whether that means field access, fishing, or keeping an eye on low-water conditions near the bank.
The hero number on this page compares today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether the river is running high or low for the season, not just how high it is in absolute terms.
For a station with 49 years on record, that daily comparison is the quickest way to judge where the Garnock stands relative to its usual pattern. The reading is published by SEPA.
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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