WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Wyaconda River above Canton in MO, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Wyaconda River above Canton is in the Bear-Wyaconda watershed in Missouri.
The river’s typical high water comes in May, at 4.13 ft (1.26 m). Its typical low comes in September, at 2.76 ft (0.84 m). That seasonal spread is 16.5 in (41.9 cm), which is the range a dock, pump intake, or low-water crossing has to live with most years.
For people using the river, that means spring tends to be the time to watch for higher water and faster changes, while late summer into early fall is when the channel is usually nearest its seasonal low. Rain can change that picture in any season.
The record high is 27.72 ft (8.45 m), set in June 2011. The record low is 1.88 ft (0.57 m), set in August 2018.
Those two marks show how far this river can move beyond its usual band. The high-water record is the number to keep in mind for floodplain access, bank use, and anything stored near the channel. The low-water record matters for floaters, anglers, and anyone depending on shallow access.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so I can’t add a warning-time number from the record. On a rain-fed river like this one, the practical takeaway is to watch stage closely after heavy rain, especially in spring.
This page’s hero number 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 river can be “high” in summer and ordinary in spring, or the other way around.
The station is operated by the USGS, and the record here spans more than 47 years. That long record is what makes the day-by-day comparison useful: it puts today’s stage in the river’s usual seasonal context, not just as a single number on a gauge.
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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