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—— ft above typical
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Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Levisa Fork at Pikeville in KY, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Levisa Fork at Pikeville is in the Lower Levisa watershed in Kentucky.
The station record runs for more than 50 years. The highest level in that record is 41.44 ft (12.63 m), in February 2025. The lowest is 5.88 ft (1.79 m), in December 2008.
Seasonally, the river is highest in February at 9.79 ft (2.98 m) and lowest in September at 6.36 ft (1.94 m). That typical annual swing is 3.4 ft (1.05 m), which is the range docks, pumps, and low banks have to live with from one part of the year to another.
For people watching this water, the main point is that the record range is wide, and the high-water end comes quickly enough to matter for access, bank work, and low crossings. The fastest 24-hour rise is not given here, so there is no record-based warning-time number to cite for this station.
This station drains 1232 sq mi (3191 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding the reading here, not the whole named watershed. In a foothill basin, rain on saturated ground is the pattern to watch, and winter and spring are the seasons that usually carry the sharpest rises.
For cottagers, anglers, and anyone with an intake near the bank, the seasonal low in September is the time to watch shallow spots, while the February high tells you when extra clearance matters most. The record low and record high show that this river can sit in a fairly tight band much of the year and still move well outside it in flood periods.
This page’s hero number is the current reading at the USGS station. It is most useful when you compare it with the median for this calendar day, because that tells you whether the river is running high or low for this date, not just how many feet are on the gauge.
The station has more than 50 years of record, so the daily median is anchored in a long local history. Raw elevation alone does not show whether today is ordinary for this time of year; the calendar-day median does.
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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