WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Passage Creek near Buckton in VA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Passage Creek near Buckton is in the North Fork Shenandoah watershed in Virginia.
The station record runs for about 50 years, which is enough to show a narrow but active range. The highest level in the record was 8.9 ft (2.71 m) in May 2014. The lowest was 2.68 ft (0.82 m) in September 2010.
The seasonal pattern is modest but real. The typical high month is March at 3.85 ft (1.17 m), and the typical low month is September at 3.02 ft (0.92 m). That typical annual swing is 10 in (25.5 cm), so docks, intakes, and wading spots here have to cope with a noticeable but not dramatic change through the year.
For anyone using the creek, the record says the water can rise well above its usual band, and it can also settle into a late-summer low. That matters most when you are judging boat clearance, shallow crossings, or whether a bank will stay usable through the season.
The station drains 86.5 sq mi (224 km2) above the gauge. That is the area contributing water to this reading, not the full watershed map name.
This is a rain-driven Appalachian and piedmont setting, so winter and spring floods are the main high-water season, and brief summer low flows are part of the rhythm. Tropical remnants can also bring sharp late-summer rises. For people living beside the creek, that means the water can change fast enough to matter, but the seasonal low is also part of the normal cycle.
The hero number on this page should be read against the median for the same calendar day, not as a raw elevation by itself. That comparison shows whether Passage Creek near Buckton is running high or low for this date, which is more useful than the absolute number alone.
This station is published by the USGS. With about 50 years on record, the day-by-day median gives a better sense of what is ordinary here than a single reading lifted out of season.
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.
Field notes and explainers from the Nibi desk - how to read a staff gauge, what a 100-year flood actually means, how snowpack becomes summer water.
For five years, spring 2019 was the mark every Lake Muskoka decision answered to. In April 2026 the lake went two centimeters higher - and the official books have not caught up yet.
Inside the freshet cycle that puts Manitoba shorelines at risk each year - and why 2026 broke the script.
The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.
What the numbers on the measuring stick actually tell you.
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.