WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for White Cart Water at Overlee in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
White Cart Water at Overlee is a gauged river in Scotland.
The seasonal pattern fits a rain-fed river with its highest typical level in January at 0.59 m (1.94 ft) and its lowest typical level in July at 0.22 m (0.73 ft). That is the kind of swing that matters for banks, docks, and any intake set close to the waterline.
The typical annual swing is 36.8 cm (14.5 in), so the river does not stay fixed for long. In this region, winter and spring rains usually do most of the lifting, while long warm-season low-flow stretches can leave the channel running lower for weeks at a time.
The catchment above the station is 106 km2 (41.1 sq mi). For anyone watching runoff from nearby ground, that is the area feeding this gauge rather than the river as a whole.
Across 46 years on record, the highest level here was 1.56 m (5.1 ft) in December 1983. The lowest level was 0 m (0 ft) in May 1981. Those two marks show the range this reach has already delivered at this station.
That record high is the number to keep in mind when thinking about flood-prone ground near the bank. The record low is the other side of the same story: there have been times when the river sat right at the floor of the record.
In a region where hurricane-season tropical rains can rewrite records, a station with this long a record is useful because it shows what this river has already done, not just what it is doing today.
The hero reading on this page should be read against the median for the same calendar day across SEPA’s station record. That makes it more useful than raw elevation alone, because the same level can mean very different things depending on the time of year.
With 46 years on record, the station gives a solid seasonal baseline. If today’s reading sits above the median, the river is running fuller than usual for this date; if it sits below, it is running leaner than usual. That is the comparison a cottager, angler, or flood watcher can act on.
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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