WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for River Thames at Osney Lock in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
River Thames at Osney Lock is a gauged river in England.
This station has more than 31 years of record. The highest level in the file is 0.93 m (3.06 ft) in July 2022, and the lowest is -0.86 m (-2.83 ft) in June 2026.
The seasonal pattern is tight. December is the highest month at 0.02 m (0.07 ft), while August is the lowest at -0.01 m (-0.04 ft). The typical annual swing is 3.1 cm (1.2 in), so the day-to-day working range is usually small even when the long record shows larger extremes.
For people using the river, that means docks, moorings, and any fixed intake need to be set with a modest seasonal shift in mind. The record high and low are far apart from the usual monthly levels, so short-term planning should not rely on a single “normal” reading.
In temperate hydrology, this kind of river is usually higher in spring and lower in summer, but the record here shows a December high month and an August low month. Read the station by its own history, not by a general rule.
For anglers and other regular users, that makes the calendar matter. Water in late summer has tended to sit near the low end of the station’s range, while winter has tended to sit higher.
The hero number on this page is the present reading compared with the median for the same calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it puts today beside the usual level for this date at this site.
This station is run by the Environment Agency, so the best read is the one that places today against the local record at Osney Lock, not against an arbitrary threshold. With more than 31 years of data, the median gives a better sense of whether the river is running above, below, or near its usual mark for the day.
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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