Choose the right tool for your next water trip
A river gauge, a coastal hazard forecast, a snowpack reading and a waterfall spectacle forecast answer different questions. Keep the sources separate, then use the specialist that turns them into the decision you need.
Open a tool below, or add a city or ZIP to carry your place into the related checks.
Optional device location is rounded before lookup and is not sent to analytics.
Open the right water tool
Gauley Release Live
Separate the published recreation schedule from observed operations, then follow the modeled release pulse downstream only after live onset evidence is confirmed.
Fort Madison Live
See what reaches the Fort Madison swing bridge next by combining rail identity, Southwest Chief timing, named commercial tows, river stage and predicted bridge-opening windows.
Waterfall Window
Ask whether a named waterfall is worth seeing now and whether its flow may improve. The tool links the falls to its river network, then combines USGS observations and history, NOAA National Water Model guidance, NWS precipitation and upstream regulation context.
River Level, Flow & Forecast
Find nearby USGS gauges, current discharge and stage, 6–24 hour trend, same-date historical context, additional sensors and official NOAA flood forecasts where a match exists.
Beach & Coastal Conditions
Start with official NWS rip/swim risk, then add nearby NDBC waves, wind and water temperature plus NOAA tide predictions where they apply.
Snowpack & Snowmelt Conditions
Check nearby measured snow depth and SWE plus the next 48 hours of melt, refreeze and snowfall weather context. Snowmelt is not treated as proof that a river will rise.
U.S. Outdoor Tools
Keep water information separate while also checking the other national outdoor signals for the same place.
Waterfall spectacle is a derived hydrologic decision
No single national feed says whether a waterfall is running unusually well today. Waterfall Window first links the waterfall to its hydrologic reach, then reads connected observations, local modeled flow, seasonal history and incoming precipitation together. If the evidence cannot support a comparative score, the score is withheld.
Flow and stage are different measurements
Discharge describes the volume of water moving past the gauge, while stage is water-surface height at that gauge. One should not be substituted for the other.
Trend often matters more than the snapshot
A river at the same flow can mean different things if it is rising quickly, falling after a crest or holding steady. The live river and waterfall tools use change as context rather than only the latest number.
Historical context answers “unusual for now?”
Same-season historical comparisons can show whether current flow is relatively high or low for the time of year. They do not make a recreational safety determination.
Official flood forecasts stay official
When a gauge can be matched to NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service, the river tool shows that forecast separately. National Water Model reach guidance in Waterfall Window is also labeled as model guidance rather than an official forecast.
Coastal water is a different decision
Beach risk, surf, buoy observations and tides do not belong inside an inland river or waterfall interpretation. The coastal tool keeps those sources separate and hands Michigan beach users to the deeper Great Lakes beach network.
Snowmelt is upstream context, not a river forecast
Measured snowpack and warm-weather melt pressure can explain one watershed input, but they do not prove when or how much a river will rise. Use the Snowpack tool for the pack itself and the river or waterfall specialist for the receiving water.