South Fork Sabine River near Quinlan Water Level

Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for South Fork Sabine River near Quinlan in TX, United States, built from official government gauge data.

About South Fork Sabine River near Quinlan

South Fork Sabine River near Quinlan sits in the Upper Sabine watershed in Texas.

What the record shows

This station has more than 50 years on record with the USGS.

The highest water in the file is 17.61 ft (5.37 m), set in December 2001. The lowest is 2.44 ft (0.74 m), set in October 1997. That span matters for anyone using the river edge, a low crossing, or a pump intake: the same site has held both much higher and much lower water within the record.

The usual seasonal shape is modest. February is the highest typical month at 5.15 ft (1.57 m), and August is the lowest at 4.27 ft (1.3 m). The typical annual swing is 10.6 in (26.9 cm), which is the background change a dock or bank-side setup has to live with in an ordinary year.

No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so there is no station-specific warning number to quote for short-fuse jumps.

The watershed

This is a USGS river gauge on the South Fork Sabine River near Quinlan. The drainage area above the station is 78.7 sq mi (204 km2).

That upstream area is the piece that feeds this reading, not the whole Upper Sabine watershed. For people nearby, that means local rain can move the level quickly, and the river can stay low for stretches between events. In this kind of flash-flood setting, the timing of runoff matters as much as the total rain.

The nearby peers on the Sabine system help show that this part of the basin is watched across several tributaries and main-stem points, but each gauge answers for its own upstream area.

Reading the hero number

The hero number on the page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it puts the current level beside what is normal for this date at this site.

For the USGS, that comparison uses the station’s own history, here stretching over more than 50 years. If today is above the calendar-day median, the river is running higher than usual for this date; if it is below, it is running lower. That is the quicker read for access, fishing, and flood watch than a single stage number on its own.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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