River Irwell at Manchester Racecourse Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for River Irwell at Manchester Racecourse in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
- Location England, United Kingdom
- Primary gauge ea-690510 (Environment Agency)
About River Irwell at Manchester Racecourse
River Irwell at Manchester Racecourse is a gauged river in England.
Season by season
The seasonal pattern here is small but useful to plan around. The typical high point is November at 1.06 m (3.49 ft), while the typical low point is May at 0.83 m (2.71 ft). That 23.6 cm (9.3 in) annual swing is not large, but it is enough to matter for a dock, a bank access point, or a pump intake that sits close to the usual waterline.
For river users, that means autumn tends to be the fuller part of the year, and late spring the part when the channel is most often down. Temperate rivers often show that pattern, with higher water in the wetter part of the year and lower water later in spring.
Records and rises
The station’s record high is 3.74 m (12.26 ft), set in October 1980. The record low is 0.64 m (2.08 ft), set in September 1977. Those two marks show the reach can move a long way beyond its seasonal average, so a calm week does not tell you much about the range the river has already shown.
With 50 years on record, this site gives a long enough history to separate an ordinary rise from an exceptional one. For someone living or fishing on the river, that history is the part that matters: it sets the envelope for what this gauge has already done.
Reading the hero number
The number on the page is best read against the median for this calendar day, not as a raw height on its own. A single level can look high or low without context; the median says whether today sits above or below the usual range for this date at this station.
That matters at the River Irwell at Manchester Racecourse because the gauge has more than 50 years of record behind it. The current reading, compared with the day-specific median, tells you whether the river is running ordinary for the season or standing outside its usual pattern.
Source: Environment Agency.
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.
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