Tar Creek near Commerce Water Level

Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Tar Creek near Commerce in OK, United States, built from official government gauge data.

About Tar Creek near Commerce

Tar Creek near Commerce sits in the Lake O' The Cherokees watershed in Oklahoma.

What the record shows

The station has more than 22 years on record, and that span shows a fairly tight seasonal range most years. The record high is 17.14 ft (5.22 m) in May 2019. The record low is 6.24 ft (1.9 m) in September 2012.

The usual high point comes in May at 8.51 ft (2.59 m), while the usual low point comes in September at 7.8 ft (2.38 m). That seasonal swing is 8.5 in (21.6 cm), so day-to-day changes are usually modest compared with the extremes. For someone watching a crossing, bank, or intake, the big question is not the average month-to-month shift, but whether the creek is tracking near one of those record ends.

The watershed

This gauge drains 34.4 sq mi (89.1 km2) upstream of the station. That is the catchment above this point, not the whole named watershed.

In this part of Oklahoma, spring is the main storm season, and rises can be fast when convective storms park over the basin. After storms, long dry recessions are common. On a small drainage like this, that pattern can matter more than the calendar month: the creek may move quickly after rain, then settle back down for extended stretches.

Reading the hero number

The hero number on the page is today’s reading set against the median for this calendar day across the USGS record. That is more useful than raw elevation because a stage of 8 feet means something different in May than it does in September.

With more than 22 years on record at USGS station usgs-07185090, the calendar-day median gives a quick read on whether Tar Creek is running above or below its usual level for this date. For neighbours, that is the better signal for access, bank conditions, and whether the creek is behaving like the rest of the season or stepping outside it.

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.

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.

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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.

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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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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.

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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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