Willow Creek at Oxly Ranch Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Willow Creek at Oxly Ranch in AB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
- Location AB, Canada
- Watershed central oldman willow
- Primary gauge 05AB041 (Water Survey of Canada)
About Willow Creek at Oxly Ranch
Willow Creek in the Central Oldman - Willow watershed, Alberta.
What the record shows
The record at Willow Creek at Oxly Ranch runs across 27 years.
The highest level in that record is 3.15 m (10.35 ft) in June 2013. The lowest is 0.8 m (2.62 ft) in October 2013. That is a wide spread for a site where the usual seasonal swing is 28.1 cm (11.1 in), with the highest typical month in February at 1.36 m (4.45 ft) and the lowest typical month in September at 1.08 m (3.53 ft).
For anyone watching a crossing, bank, or intake, that tells you two things: this creek can sit in a fairly narrow band much of the year, but it can also jump hard. The fastest 24-hour rise in the record was 1.89 m (6.2 ft) in June 2013. The fastest 24-hour drop was 51 cm (20.1 in) in June 2014.
The watershed
The gauge drains 833 km2 (322 sq mi) upstream of the station. That is the area feeding this reading, not the larger watershed name on the map.
In this part of Alberta, the seasonal rhythm usually matters more than the calendar. Snowmelt can build the late-spring period, while summer storms can push short, sharp rises. The numbers here fit that kind of stream: a modest typical range most months, but a record jump large enough to change conditions quickly for a low ford, a bank edge, or a shallow diversion point.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is better than raw elevation because a level that looks ordinary in one month can be high or low for another month.
At a station like this, Water Survey of Canada is the agency to think about, and the record here spans more than 27 years. If today sits well above the median for this date, the creek is running ahead of its usual seasonal pattern. If it sits below, the reach is running light for the time of year.
How this page is built
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.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
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.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
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.
Alerts that watch the water for you
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.
Where Nibi comes from
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.
Coverage
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.
Free forever, funded by members
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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