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 River below Powerhouse Dam near Pee Dee in NC, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Pee Dee River below Powerhouse Dam near Pee Dee is a gauged river in the Lower Pee Dee watershed, North Carolina.
This gauge watches 6,836 square miles (17,705 km2) upstream of the station. For anyone drawing water, working a landing, or watching a low bank, that is the area feeding this reach. The station has 15 years on record, so its pattern is long enough to show a regular seasonal shape and a few sharp extremes.
The monthly pattern is clear. January is the highest typical month at 7.42 ft (2.26 m), while September is the lowest typical month at 4.97 ft (1.52 m). In this part of the region, winter and spring rains usually set the higher part of the year, and warm-season lows can settle in between storms. That is the range a dock, intake, or shallow crossing has to handle through the year.
The highest level in the record is 29.65 ft (9.04 m) in September 2018. The lowest is 3.25 ft (0.99 m) in November 2012. Those two values show that this reach can move far outside its typical monthly band. For someone fishing the river edge or keeping equipment near the bank, that means the channel can change from low to high water in a way that is much larger than the usual month-to-month swing.
The typical annual swing is 29.4 in (74.7 cm). That is the more useful planning number for most day-to-day decisions, because it describes the expected seasonal move rather than the single biggest spike.
The reading on this page is best read against the median for the same calendar day across the station’s 15-year record, not just against raw elevation. Raw height alone does not tell you whether the river is high for this date or merely high in an absolute sense. A calendar-day comparison shows where the river sits relative to what is normal for this day at this USGS station.
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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