WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Tombigbee River at Steamplant near Leroy in AL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Tombigbee River at Steamplant near Leroy is a gauged river in the Lower Tombigbee watershed, Alabama.
The station drains 19,120 sq mi (49,521 km2) above the gauge. That is the area feeding this point, so changes upstream can move through a large reach before they show here. With 25 years on record, the site gives a useful look at how this river behaves across wet seasons, dry spells, and the bigger storms that shape the Gulf South.
The pattern is seasonal. The highest typical month is March at 18.37 ft (5.6 m), while the lowest typical month is October at 2.39 ft (0.73 m). For someone with a dock, intake, or shoreline access, that spread matters: spring water can sit far above fall levels, and the river can spend long warm-season stretches well below its annual high-water range.
The record high is 33.23 ft (10.13 m) in February 2020. The record low is -1.44 ft (-0.44 m) in September 2008. Those two marks show that this reach has moved through a very wide range over the station’s history.
The typical annual swing is 16 ft (4.87 m). That is the number to keep in mind for ordinary planning. A ramp that works in March may need a much different setup by October, and shallow-water access can change quickly as the river drops away from its seasonal high.
The hero number on this page is today’s river level, set beside the median level for the same calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because it tells you whether the river is running high or low for this date, not just what the gauge reads in isolation.
At this USGS station, that comparison is built from more than 25 years of observations. For river users, that context helps separate an ordinary seasonal rise from a level that sits well above the usual range for this 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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