Oulton Beck at Lofthouse Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Oulton Beck at Lofthouse in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
- Location England, United Kingdom
- Primary gauge ea-L1719 (Environment Agency)
About Oulton Beck at Lofthouse
Oulton Beck at Lofthouse is a gauged river in England.
Season by season
The pattern here is modest but clear. The highest typical month is January at 0.48 m (1.56 ft), and the lowest typical month is August at 0.4 m (1.31 ft). For people living beside the beck, that means winter usually brings the higher water on this reach, while late summer is when the channel tends to sit lowest.
The typical annual swing is 7.8 cm (3.1 in), so the ordinary seasonal change is small in absolute terms. That matters for a footbridge, outfall, or any bank-side intake that needs a little room through the year: the water does move, but not by a lot in a typical season.
Records and rises
The highest level in the 23-year record is 0.97 m (3.18 ft), reached in June 2012. The lowest is 0.11 m (0.37 ft), reached in September 2019. Those two marks show the range this reach has already seen, and they are the numbers that tell you more than a single day’s reading on its own.
June and September sit on opposite ends of the annual cycle for this station, and that is the kind of spread river users pay attention to. An angler reading the bank conditions, or a landowner watching a low crossing, can use the record high and record low as the outer bounds this gauge has actually reached.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is the current level set against the median for the same calendar day across the station’s record. That is the better comparison because it answers a practical question: is today ordinary for this date, or running high or low for the season?
Raw elevation alone does not tell you that. A level can look small in summer and still be high for that day, or look moderate in winter and still sit below the usual pattern. With 23 years on record, the comparison gives a cleaner view of where the river sits now in relation to its own history.
This station is monitored by the Environment Agency.
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.
Water Stories
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The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.
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Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.
One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.
How every number is computed - About the platform
