Ponca Creek at Verdel, Nebr. Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Ponca Creek at Verdel, Nebr. in NE, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location NE, United States
- Watershed ponca
- Primary gauge 06453600 (USGS)
About Ponca Creek at Verdel, Nebr.
Ponca Creek at Verdel, Nebr. sits in the Ponca watershed in Nebraska.
Season by season
On the Plains, the year usually starts with higher water and then eases back. Here, the typical high month is February at 5.6 ft (1.71 m), and the typical low month is September at 4.42 ft (1.35 m). That annual swing is 14.2 in (36.1 cm), which is modest enough that a dock, bank access, or small intake still needs to be set with the seasonal change in mind, but not as if the channel is changing by whole feet every year.
Spring snowmelt and rain floods are part of the regional pattern, and summer convective storms can still push short-lived rises. The record does not show a constant seasonal climb or drop; it shows a water level that moves within a fairly narrow band most of the time.
Records and rises
The highest level in the record is 17.38 ft (5.3 m), in March 2019. The lowest is 2.67 ft (0.81 m), in January 2005. That span matters to anyone fishing, launching, or watching a crossing: the creek can be low enough to change access, but it has also reached a much higher stage during the record.
There is no fastest 24-hour rise listed in the facts for this station, so I won’t guess at warning time. With 50 years on record, the important lesson is that this site has a long memory for both high water and low water, even when day-to-day changes are small.
Reading the hero number
The number at the top of the page is best read against the median for this calendar day, not against the absolute stage by itself. A single reading can look high or low without context; the calendar-day median tells you whether today is above or below the usual level for this date at this USGS station.
This station has 50 years on record, so the comparison is anchored in a long local history. That is the cleaner number for cottagers, anglers, and anyone checking access or bank conditions on Ponca Creek.
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
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.
How every number is computed - About the platform
