WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
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Live lake level, flow, historical records and forecast for WALKER LAKE NR HAWTHORNE in NV, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Walker Lake sits in the Walker Lake watershed in Nevada.
The record at this station runs back 19 years.
The highest level on record is 3934.8 ft (1199.33 m), in October 2007. The lowest is 3906.39 ft (1190.67 m), in January 2017. That span matters on the ground: docks, shore access, and shallow nearshore water have to work across a wide range.
The usual seasonal pattern is modest but clear. July is the highest month, at 3919.36 ft (1194.62 m), and December is the lowest month, at 3917.79 ft (1194.14 m). The typical annual swing is 18.8 in (47.8 cm). For anyone watching a shoreline or intake, that is the scale of change to expect in an ordinary year, not the record extremes.
The station measures conditions upstream in a catchment of 4050 sq mi (10490 km2). That figure belongs to this gauge, not to the whole named watershed. It is the area feeding the station’s reading, so it is the number to use when thinking about what the lake can gather from the land above it.
In this part of the Great Basin, river and lake levels are shaped by season, with spring runoff on perennial inflows and summer thunderstorms capable of sharp local changes. The lake-level record here still matters most for shoreline use, boat access, and any work set near the water’s edge.
The hero number on this page is today’s lake level compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone, because it shows whether the lake is running high or low for this date, not just how high it sits above sea level.
This station is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, and the record spans more than 19 years.
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 in a growing number of countries. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 17,900 gauged lakes and rivers in a growing number of countries, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, the Environment Agency for England, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Office of Public Works in Ireland (waterlevel.ie), the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), the State of Queensland's water monitoring network, and on the Great Lakes the Canadian Hydrographic Service and NOAA. 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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