Rayse Creek near Waltonville Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Rayse Creek near Waltonville in IL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location IL, United States
- Watershed big muddy 0106
- Primary gauge 05595730 (USGS)
About Rayse Creek near Waltonville
Rayse Creek in the Big Muddy watershed, Illinois.
The watershed
This gauge watches the creek above a drainage area of 88 square miles (228 km2), which is the land feeding this station, not the full watershed name used on the page.
For local use, that matters more than the label. A smaller upstream area can still send a quick bump after rain, and on flat ground the high water can linger. In this part of the Midwest, winter and spring rain and melt are the main flood season, while summer usually brings recession.
What the numbers say
The record high here is 15.64 ft (4.77 m), reached in May 1995. The record low is 0.02 ft (0.01 m), reached in November 1999. Those two marks bracket the range this creek has shown over the station record.
The seasonal pattern is modest most of the year but still worth planning for. March is the typical high month at 2.1 ft (0.64 m), while September is the typical low month at 0.75 ft (0.23 m). The typical annual swing is 16.2 in (41.1 cm). For a dock, pump intake, or crossing, that is the spread to watch: spring water is usually the higher side of the year, and late summer is usually the lower side.
This station has 47 years on record, so the pattern is long enough to treat as a real local baseline rather than a one-off season.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That tells you whether the creek is running high or low for this date, which is better than raw elevation alone.
Raw level by itself can mislead because a “normal” number in March may be high for September. The day-of-year median gives the local context that matters for wading, bank access, and any intake or crossing that depends on stable water levels.
USGS operates this station, and the record spans more than 47 years.
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
