WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
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Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Kuskokwim R at Crooked Creek AK in AK, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Kuskokwim River at Crooked Creek sits in the Aniak watershed in Alaska.
The station record runs for more than 50 years. The highest level in the file is 46.68 ft (14.23 m) in December 2009, and the lowest is -0.86 ft (-0.26 m) in November 2014. That spread is the range this river has shown at this site, and it matters for docks, bank access, and any intake set close to the waterline.
The usual seasonal shape is clear. May is the highest typical month at 9.82 ft (2.99 m), while March is the lowest typical month at 2.69 ft (0.82 m). The typical annual swing is 7.1 ft (2.17 m), so a fixed setup on the bank has to handle more than one water level over the year.
This gauge drains 31100 sq mi (80549 km2) upstream of the station.
For people living and working here, that upstream area is the water that feeds the reading at this point, not the full river system farther down. In a season with spring breakup and snowmelt-driven rises, the river can move from winter low water toward its May typical high, then back again as the year shifts. The record low in November 2014 and the record high in December 2009 show how wide the spread can be at this site.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether the river is running high or low for the date, not just where it sits above sea level.
This is a USGS station with more than 50 years on record. For a quick local read, the calendar-day median is the better yardstick for deciding whether conditions are normal for now, or shifted away from the usual 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 in a growing number of countries. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 17,900 gauged lakes and rivers in a growing number of countries, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, the Environment Agency for England, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Office of Public Works in Ireland (waterlevel.ie), the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), the State of Queensland's water monitoring network, and on the Great Lakes the Canadian Hydrographic Service and NOAA. 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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