WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Kiskiminetas River at Vandergrift in PA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Kiskiminetas River at Vandergrift sits in the Kiskiminetas watershed in Pennsylvania.
Spring is when this river usually runs highest. The typical high point is March at 6.92 ft (2.11 m), and that is well above the typical low point in September at 3.5 ft (1.07 m). The seasonal swing is 3.4 ft (1.04 m), which is the range a dock, pump intake, or fishable edge has to live with through the year.
That pattern matters here in the way it does across Appalachian and piedmont streams: winter and spring are the stretch when water is most often up, while summer is the time to watch for low water.
The record high is 16.29 ft (4.97 m) in February 2018. The record low is 2.65 ft (0.81 m) in August 2008. Those two marks show the spread this station can see over time.
This gauge has 50 years on record. That is enough history to separate a one-day bump from a level that is truly unusual for the site.
The fastest 24-hour rise is not listed in the facts here, so I cannot give a number for warning time. When that figure is available, it is one of the best guides for how quickly conditions can change along the banks.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone, because a river at 4 ft in March means something different from 4 ft in September.
For this station, the reading comes from the USGS. The median comparison uses the station’s full record, which here spans more than 50 years. For neighbours, that makes the number a quick check on whether the river is sitting near its usual level for this date, or well above or below it.
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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