WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Illinois River at Highway. 16 near Siloam Springs AR in AR, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Illinois River in the Illinois watershed in Arkansas is monitored near Siloam Springs.
This station drains 509 sq mi (1,318 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding this reading, not the full watershed name on the map. For people living along the river, that upstream size matters because every storm over that ground can show up here.
The record high is 22.32 ft (6.8 m), set in April 2017. The record low is 4.87 ft (1.49 m), set in December 2010. That range gives this site a wide operating band, from low-water periods that can limit shallow access to high-water periods that raise bank and crossing concerns.
Seasonally, the highest typical month is May at 7.22 ft (2.2 m), and the lowest typical month is October at 5.82 ft (1.78 m). The typical annual swing is 16.8 in (42.7 cm). For a dock, intake, or low-water landing, that means the river does not sit at one level for long; the surface commonly moves through a modest but real seasonal range.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so there is no station-specific warning-time figure to quote.
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 by itself. That comparison shows whether today is typical for this date, unusually high, or unusually low for this place.
This station has more than 47 years of record, and it is operated through the USGS. A calendar-day median uses that history to give context that a single reading cannot: it tells you how today fits the river’s own pattern.
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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