WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Pee Dee R at Pee Dee Refuge near Ansonville in NC, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Pee Dee R at Pee Dee Refuge near Ansonville is a gauged river in the Upper Pee Dee watershed, North Carolina.
The seasonal pattern here is clear: February is the highest typical month at 8.59 ft (2.62 m), while September is the lowest typical month at 5.1 ft (1.56 m). The usual annual swing is 3.5 ft (1.06 m), so docks, banks, and any intake set close to the water need room for a few feet of change through the year.
That fits a rain-fed river in this part of the country. Winter and spring rains tend to set the higher water, and warm months can pull the level down between storms. For anyone fishing this reach, that means the depth and edge habitat you find in late winter will not match what you see in late summer.
The station’s record high is 34.68 ft (10.57 m), set in September 2018. The record low is 2.98 ft (0.91 m), set in September 2011. Those two September marks show how wide the river’s range can be at this gauge, from very low water to a major rise.
With 15 years on record, the station has enough history to show how fast this river can move when weather lines up over the basin. The catchment above the station is 6134 sq mi (15887 km2), so conditions upstream can matter here quickly. For people living or working near the water, that upstream area is the part that feeds the gauge.
The hero reading on this page is most useful when it is compared with the median for the same calendar day across the station’s record. That tells you whether today’s level is ordinary for this date, even when the raw stage looks high or low on its own.
This page is based on USGS data from a station with more than 15 years on record. That longer record is what makes the day-by-day comparison useful: it gives local context for today’s water level instead of a single number by itself.
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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