WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live lake level, flow, historical records and forecast for Lake Quinault near Old WA 9 Road near Quinault in WA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Lake Quinault sits in the Queets-Quinault watershed in Washington.
This USGS lake station has more than 2 years on record, so the record is short and the seasonal pattern matters as much as any single day.
The high-water mark in the file is 16.53 ft (5.04 m) in December 2025. The low-water mark is 3.24 ft (0.99 m) in September 2025. That is a wide spread for a lake gauge, and it tells you the shoreline, docks, and shallow-water access can change a lot over the year.
The seasonal pattern follows that same shape. December is the highest month at 8.67 ft (2.64 m), while September is the lowest month at 3.36 ft (1.02 m). The typical annual swing is 5.3 ft (1.62 m). For someone watching a dock or a landing, that swing is the range the water level has to live within over a normal year.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so I am not going to guess at warning time.
This lake is part of the Queets-Quinault watershed, and the regional pattern for this part of Washington is the one to keep in mind: west-side rivers flood with fall-winter atmospheric rivers, while east-side and mountain rivers run on May-July snowmelt. For Lake Quinault, the record here shows the highest month in December and the lowest month in September, which fits a water level that is highest in the wet season and lowest late in the year.
This page’s hero number is the live reading from the USGS station, and the useful comparison is not raw elevation on its own. What matters is how today sits against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That gives you context for access, flooding stress, and whether the lake is running high or low for this date.
With more than 2 years on record, that day-by-day median is the cleaner check than a single number by itself.
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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