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 below Kenora Powerhouse in ON, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Winnipeg River below Kenora Powerhouse is a gauged river in the Upper Winnipeg watershed, Ontario.
The river’s seasonal shape is modest at this station: the typical annual swing is 20.5 cm (8.1 in), so day-to-day changes are usually small compared with its long record. The highest typical month is July at 316.74 m (1039.18 ft), and the lowest typical month is September at 316.54 m (1038.5 ft). That is the sort of summer decline dock owners and intakes need to watch for, even when the change is not large.
The regional pattern here is spring freshet in late April-May, then a natural summer drawdown in July-September, with an early-winter decline as ice forms. On this gauge, that broad rhythm lines up with the July-to-September dip in the monthly figures.
This station has 114 years on record, so its extremes are worth taking seriously. The record high is 319.62 m (1048.62 ft) in June 1927, and the record low is 314.3 m (1031.15 ft) in March 1931. For anyone using the shoreline, those two numbers show the range the river has already shown here.
The catchment above the station is 69400 km2 (26795 sq mi). That is the area feeding this gauge, so a change upstream can be reflected here even when the local weather feels ordinary. The gauge is useful because it tells you what this reach is doing, not just how high the water sits in one moment.
The page’s hero number is meant to be read against the median for the same calendar day, across 114 years of record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because a level only means something when you know what is normal for that date.
A reading near the median suggests the river is close to its usual condition for the season; a reading above or below it tells you how far it has moved from the long-term daily centre. For cottagers, anglers, and farmers, that context is the point: it helps show whether the river is running at its ordinary level for today, not just where it sits in metres or feet.
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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