Palatlakaha R at Cherry Lake Out near Groveland Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Palatlakaha R at Cherry Lake Out near Groveland in FL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location FL, United States
- Watershed oklawaha
- Primary gauge 02236900 (USGS)
About Palatlakaha R at Cherry Lake Out near Groveland
Palatlakaha River in the Oklawaha watershed, Florida.
What the record shows
The river’s record high is 97.62 ft (29.75 m), set in October 2024, and its record low is 90.18 ft (27.49 m), set in October 2000. That span matters on the bank: water levels here have moved through a range of more than 7 feet, so docks, pumps, and shallow crossings need room for change.
The seasonal pattern is fairly tight in the day-to-day sense, but it still matters. The highest typical month is March at 96.05 ft (29.28 m), and the lowest typical month is June at 95.45 ft (29.09 m). The typical annual swing is 7.2 in (18.3 cm). For anyone fishing or keeping a shoreline intake, that means the surface usually shifts by inches, not feet, across the year, even though the record span is much larger.
The watershed
The station drains 165 sq mi (427 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area that can feed water to this reading, not the whole Oklawaha watershed. USGS station data here give a 50-year record, so the pattern on the page is built from a long local history, not a short run of wet or dry years.
This is the kind of river where the seasonal rhythm is more useful than a single level. Summer-wet-season peaks can arrive from convective storms or tropical systems, while winter and spring are usually the dry-season low-flow window. On flat ground, high water can also sit for a while after a rise.
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 comparison is better than raw elevation because the same number can mean different things in March than it does in June.
USGS is the operating agency for this site. With more than 50 years on record, the daily median gives a neighbour a quick read on whether the river is running high or low for this date, not just how high it is above a fixed datum.
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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