WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Muskego (big Muskego) Lake Outlet near Wind Lake in WI, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Muskego (big Muskego) Lake Outlet near Wind Lake is a gauged river in the Upper Fox watershed, Wisconsin.
This station sits on the outlet from Muskego Lake in Wisconsin, with 33.9 sq mi (87.8 km2) upstream of the gauge. For a place like this, the number that matters most is how quickly the level changes when runoff reaches the outlet and how much room the channel has before water starts backing into low spots.
The seasonal pattern is clear. The highest typical month is March at 11.88 ft (3.62 m), and the lowest typical month is August at 11.5 ft (3.51 m). That 4.5 in (11.4 cm) annual swing is not large, but it is enough to matter for docks, small intakes, and shoreline access that sit close to the usual waterline.
The record high is 13.01 ft (3.96 m), set in July 2010. The record low is 10.31 ft (3.14 m), set in June 2011. Those two points show the range this outlet can cover over time, even though the typical seasonal range is much tighter than the record span.
For local use, the main takeaway is steadiness with occasional shifts. March tends to run higher than late summer, so spring is the time to watch for fuller conditions at the outlet. August usually sits at the lower end of the annual cycle, so shallow margins and fixed structures have less water over them then.
This page’s hero number is most useful when it is compared with the median for the same calendar day across the station record, not just read as a raw elevation. A level above that median means conditions are running higher than usual for this date; a level below it means the outlet is running lower than its normal date-specific pattern.
That matters because the same stage can mean different things in March and August. A day-by-day median gives context for the current reading, and the station’s 16 years on record make that comparison more useful than a single standing level. The data here come from the USGS.
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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