Mulhockaway Creek at Van Syckel NJ Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Mulhockaway Creek at Van Syckel NJ in NJ, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location NJ, United States
- Watershed raritan
- Primary gauge 01396660 (USGS)
About Mulhockaway Creek at Van Syckel NJ
Mulhockaway Creek in the Raritan watershed, New Jersey.
What the record shows
The record spans more than 49 years at this USGS station. The highest level in that record was 3.35 ft (1.02 m) in August 2011, and the lowest was 0.13 ft (0.04 m) in August 2024. That is a wide spread for a small creek, and it tells you the creek can move from very low water to a much higher stage within the same calendar season.
The seasonal pattern is clear too. The typical high month is March at 0.82 ft (0.25 m), and the typical low month is September at 0.52 ft (0.16 m). The typical annual swing is 3.6 in (9.1 cm). For a dock, pump intake, or bank access point, that means late winter and early spring usually hold more water, while late summer is the time to expect shallower conditions.
The watershed
This station drains 11.8 sq mi (30.6 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area that feeds the readings here, not the whole Raritan watershed.
For this part of New Jersey, the monthly pattern fits a Mid-Atlantic river: winter and spring are the wetter stretch, summer is usually lower, and the biggest events often come with tropical systems or their remnants. On this creek, the record does not need much explanation to matter. A low August reading can affect shallow crossings, watering points, and fish cover. A March rise is the level people watch when they are trying to judge bank access or whether conditions are turning quickly upstream.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is today's reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than the raw water level alone, because a stage of 0.60 ft (0.18 m) can mean very different things in March than it does in September.
USGS uses the longer record here, and this station has more than 49 years of observations. The day-by-day median puts today in local context: whether the creek is running above, near, or below what is normal for this date at this gauge.
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 lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
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.
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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How every number is computed - About the platform
