Piney Run near Lovettsville Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Piney Run near Lovettsville in VA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location VA, United States
- Watershed middle potomac catoctin
- Primary gauge 01636690 (USGS)
About Piney Run near Lovettsville
What the record shows
Piney Run is a river in the Middle Potomac-Catoctin watershed in Virginia.
This station’s record high is 5.66 ft (1.73 m), reached in May 2008. Its record low is 0.48 ft (0.15 m), reached in September 2010. Those two marks tell you the range a shallow river like this can move through: from a low late-summer reading to a much higher spring crest, with conditions changing enough to matter for wading, intakes, and small crossings.
The seasonal pattern is clear. May is the highest typical month at 1.58 ft (0.48 m), while September is the lowest typical month at 0.91 ft (0.28 m). The typical annual swing is 8 in (20.4 cm). For a dock, bank access point, or pump setup, that is the band to expect most years, even before storm runoff gets involved.
The watershed
The drainage area above this station is 13.5 sq mi (35 km2). That is the land sending water to the gauge, not the whole named watershed. For a small basin like this, rain can move the reading quickly, and the river can fall back just as quickly once runoff passes.
The seasonal note for this region fits what the record shows: winter and spring rain floods are the main high-water season, and brief summer low flows are part of the normal pattern. The monthly record here also leaves room for sharp late-summer rises when big rain systems arrive.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s level compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone, because it tells you whether the river is running high or low for this date, not just where it sits on the staff today.
This station has more than 25 years of record, and the data source is the USGS.
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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How every number is computed - About the platform
