WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for White River at Broad Ripple, in in IN, United States, built from official government gauge data.
White River at Broad Ripple is a gauged river in the Upper White watershed in Indiana.
Across this reach, the seasonal pattern is modest but useful to watch. The typical high month is March at 3.61 ft (1.1 m), which fits the winter-spring flood season in the Midwest when rain falls on wet or frozen ground. The typical low month is October at 2.83 ft (0.86 m), which is the time when docks, small intakes, and shallow crossings have the least water to work with. The typical annual swing is 9.3 in (23.7 cm), so the river usually moves within a fairly tight band most of the year.
For anyone fishing from shore or planning a launch, that means the water often changes more by season than by day-to-day drama, but spring and summer storms can still push it around.
The record high is 8.67 ft (2.64 m) in April 2013. The record low is 2.64 ft (0.81 m) in September 2013. That spread matters because it shows the reach can go from a low late-summer level to a much higher spring crest within the same year.
With 19 years on record, this station has enough history to show the river’s range without pretending every season is the same. For residents near low banks, the high mark is the number to keep in mind when water starts climbing fast. For anglers, the low mark is the one that tells you when habitat gets tighter and shallow bars become more exposed.
The hero number on this page compares today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the USGS station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because the same level can mean something different in March than in October.
USGS has been measuring this station for 19 years, so the day-median gives a fair local baseline for what is normal right now, not just what the staff gage says at one moment.
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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