WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Hudson River at Hadley NY in NY, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Hudson River at Hadley sits in the Upper Hudson watershed in New York.
The long record here shows a wide range. The highest level on record was 20.66 ft (6.3 m) in April 2011. The lowest was 1.04 ft (0.32 m) in September 2018. For people along the banks, that spread matters: docks, intakes, and boat access need to tolerate a river that can move through a broad band over time.
The seasonal pattern is familiar for northeastern rivers. The highest typical month is April at 5.99 ft (1.83 m), and the lowest typical month is September at 2.25 ft (0.69 m). The typical annual swing is 3.7 ft (1.14 m). In plain terms, spring is when the river usually runs fuller, while late summer is when it usually draws down.
The gauge drains 1664 sq mi (4310 km2) upstream of the station. That is the land area feeding this reading, not the whole Upper Hudson basin.
For anyone watching water levels, that upstream area is the part that matters when runoff reaches the channel. In spring, the regional rhythm is snowmelt freshet, with the strongest runoff upstate. Summer recessions are the quieter part of the year, when levels typically ease back from the spring peak. The record here fits that seasonal shape: April is the usual high point, and September the usual low point.
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for the same calendar day across the station record, not as a raw elevation. A single elevation by itself does not tell you whether the river is high for today, low for today, or near its usual mark.
This station is a USGS site with more than 50 years on record. That gives the daily median real context: it shows where today sits within the local history at Hadley, which is more useful for fishing plans, launch decisions, and flood watching than a standalone number.
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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