Matanuska R at Palmer AK Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Matanuska R at Palmer AK in AK, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location AK, United States
- Watershed matanuska
- Primary gauge 15284000 (USGS)
About Matanuska R at Palmer AK
The Matanuska River in the Matanuska watershed of Alaska is measured at a USGS station with 2060 sq mi (5335 km2) upstream of the gauge.
Season by season
This river usually runs highest in July at 8.78 ft (2.68 m) and lowest in March at 4.46 ft (1.36 m). That typical annual swing is 4.3 ft (1.32 m), which is enough to matter for a dock, a pump intake, or a shallow crossing.
For people watching the river through the year, the main point is timing. March is the low-water month in the record, while summer brings the higher stage. If you fish, that shift changes how much bank is exposed and where softer edges and deeper water sit. If you use water from the river, the seasonal range is the part your setup has to handle.
Records and rises
The record high is 15.64 ft (4.77 m), set in January 2009. The record low is 1.8 ft (0.55 m), set in April 2012.
Those two marks show the spread this gauge has seen over its 41 years on record. The high end is the level to think about when water is well above the usual summer pattern. The low end is the floor to keep in mind when the channel is thin and access is tight.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is better than raw elevation because the river does not sit at one fixed height through the year.
On a river with more than 41 years of USGS record, the seasonal median tells you whether today is ordinary for the date, or above or below the usual range. For a neighbour, that is the number that helps with boating, bank access, and flood watch.
How this page is built
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.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for 17,900+ lakes and rivers
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.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
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.
Alerts that watch the water for you
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.
Where Nibi comes from
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.
Coverage
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.
Free forever, funded by members
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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