WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live lake level, flow, historical records and forecast for Lake Hopatcong at Landing NJ in NJ, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Lake Hopatcong sits in the Middle Delaware-Musconetcong watershed in New Jersey.
The USGS record here runs for more than 19 years, and the extremes give a clear range for anyone watching docks, shorelines, or intake levels. The record high is 10.63 ft (3.24 m), set in September 2011. The record low is 3.74 ft (1.14 m), set in November 2013.
The seasonal pattern is also straightforward. The highest month is May at 9.2 ft (2.8 m), while the lowest month is January at 7.19 ft (2.19 m). That typical annual swing is 24.2 in (61.4 cm), which is the everyday change a shoreline user has to plan around.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed in the facts, so there is nothing to add there.
The gauge drains 25.3 sq mi (65.5 km2) above the station. That is the area feeding this reading, not the whole watershed name on the map.
For people using the lake, that upstream area is the part that matters when rain falls hard in the basin. In this part of the Mid-Atlantic, winter and spring rain floods are common, and tropical systems or their remnants can bring the largest jumps. Summer is usually the quieter season, with lower flows and lower lake levels.
The number on this page is best read as today’s level compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record, not as a raw elevation by itself. That comparison tells you whether the lake is running above or below its usual seasonal mark right now.
For this station, that context comes from USGS records covering more than 19 years. It is the better number for planning because a single level means less than how that level sits against the normal pattern for the date.
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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