WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Tombigbee R at Coffeeville L&D near Coffeeville, AL. in AL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Tombigbee River at Coffeeville Lock and Dam near Coffeeville sits in the Lower Tombigbee watershed in Alabama.
The station’s high-water mark is 48.91 ft (14.91 m), set in February 2020. The lowest level in the record is 31.26 ft (9.53 m), in April 2000.
The seasonal pattern is narrow. The highest typical month is November at 33.08 ft (10.08 m), and the lowest typical month is February at 32.9 ft (10.03 m). That leaves a typical annual swing of 2.1 in (5.4 cm).
For people using the river, that tells you two things. First, the long-term range can be much wider than the month-to-month pattern suggests. Second, the river does not move a lot in a normal year, so a sharp departure from the usual level matters.
This gauge drains 18417 sq mi (47700 km2) upstream of the station. That is the area feeding this reading, not the whole Lower Tombigbee.
With that much upstream land, the river reflects conditions across a large part of the basin. For cottagers, anglers, and anyone with a dock or intake near this reach, the station is a check on how much water is arriving from upstream.
The regional pattern here is rain-driven. Winter and spring rains usually set the annual peaks, while long warm-season low flows can hold between storms. Tropical systems can also bring extreme summer and fall rises.
The hero number on this page should be read against the median level for this calendar day in the station record, not as a raw elevation on its own. That comparison answers the practical question: is the river running high, low, or near usual for this date?
This station is operated by the USGS, and it has more than 50 years of record.
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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