WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Sea Cut at Scarborough in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Sea Cut at Scarborough is a gauged river in England.
The seasonal pattern here is modest but clear. The highest typical month is January at 0.26 m (0.85 ft), while the lowest typical month is August at 0.09 m (0.3 ft). The typical annual swing is 16.8 cm (6.6 in), so the difference between a fuller winter river and a late-summer one is not large, but it is enough to matter for a low crossing, a bank-side intake, or a reach that supports fishing from the margin.
That winter peak fits temperate hydrology: higher water in the colder part of the year, then lower water in late summer. For anyone watching this gauge, that means the river usually asks for more room in January and more caution about shallow margins in August.
The station has 50 years of record, and the range is short enough to read at a glance. The record high is 1.01 m (3.3 ft) in March 1999. The record low is 0.04 m (0.12 ft) in September 1990.
Those two marks show the reach can move a long way within its own envelope. A March high of that sort is the kind of level that can press a river against its banks. A September low near the bottom of the record is the kind of water that leaves little margin for shallow features and can make a familiar spot look very different from winter.
The hero number on this page is not raw level on its own. It is today’s reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record, which is the better way to judge whether the river is running high or low for the date. A single elevation can be misleading; the comparison to the day’s median shows whether this is normal for the season or a genuine departure.
This gauge is operated by the Environment Agency.
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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