WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Winnipeg River above Boundary Falls in ON, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Winnipeg River above Boundary Falls is a gauged river in the Lower Winnipeg watershed, Ontario.
This reach sits in a snowmelt-driven cycle. The usual rise comes in late April-May, then the water eases down through July-September, with an early-winter decline as ice forms.
That pattern matters at the shore and at the dock. The typical high month is July at 301.01 m (987.55 ft), and the typical low month is September at 300.32 m (985.29 ft). That is a modest seasonal range on paper, but it still changes how much clearance you have under a dock, where a pump intake sits, and how quickly a shoreline edge shifts over a summer.
The river’s typical annual swing is 69 cm (27.2 in), which is the sort of change a fixed setup has to live with from one part of the season to the next.
The record high is 304.63 m (999.43 ft) in June 2022, and the record low is 299.03 m (981.08 ft) in September 1998. Those two marks show the reach has lived through a wide spread of water levels over the station’s record.
With 45 years on record, this is a good gauge for judging where the river sits relative to its own habits. A single high reading is less useful than knowing whether it is high for this date, because the river’s level moves with the season rather than staying fixed.
For anyone watching for access, fish movement, or shoreline wetting, the important question is not just where the water is today, but how far it is from the range this station has already shown.
The hero number on this page compares today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because a level can look ordinary in one month and high or low in another.
At this station, that comparison is built on 45 years of record, so it gives a quick read on whether the river is sitting above or below its usual mark for the date.
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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