WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Pomme de Terre River near Polk in MO, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Pomme de Terre River near Polk sits in the Pomme De Terre watershed, Missouri.
This USGS station watches the river with a catchment above the station of 276 sq mi (715 km2). That area is the land upstream of this gauge, and it is the part that feeds the reading people see here.
The record high is 24.92 ft (7.6 m), set in December 2015. The record low is 0.68 ft (0.21 m), set in August 2018. Those two marks show the spread this river can cover at one point on the same gauge.
The usual seasonal pattern peaks in May at 3.1 ft (0.95 m) and reaches its low in September at 1.47 ft (0.45 m). The typical annual swing is 19.6 in (49.7 cm). For a dock, intake, or bank access, that swing is the space to expect between a late-spring high and a late-summer low.
The region note matters here in a simple way: flooding can arrive in any season when rain is heavy, and spring is often the fastest season for rise. Some streams in this part of the country are fed by karst springs that help sustain baseflow, but that is a regional pattern, not a claim about this station.
This page’s hero number is today’s reading against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it shows whether the river is high or low for this date, not just where it sits above sea level.
With more than 50 years on record, the USGS median gives a solid seasonal baseline for the Pomme de Terre at Polk. For a neighbour checking access, fishing conditions, or flood watch, the comparison to today’s usual level is the number that puts the gauge in context.
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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