River conditions, read plainly / Official gauge data
Is the water
near you rising?
HighWater checks the river gauges closest to your ZIP code against the National Weather Service's own flood stages, then tells you how much room is left and what happens if the water keeps coming.
Reading the gauges
Finding nearby river gauges and their official flood stages.No report
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Where the water
stands now.
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Official flood stages — gauge
The reading behind the verdict
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What happens if it keeps rising
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Impact statements are written by the local National Weather Service forecast office for this gauge.
Active flood alerts
Checking the National Weather Service.
Other gauges near you
| Gauge | Distance | Stage | Status |
|---|
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This is context, not a warning. Gauges describe one point on one river. Flash flooding, storm surge, dam releases and street drainage can flood a place that no gauge shows rising. Act on National Weather Service warnings and local officials, not on this page.
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How it works / No invented score
Every number
comes from somewhere.
HighWater does not rank or grade your risk. It puts one official reading next to the official thresholds for that same gauge and shows the arithmetic.
- 01
Locate the water
Your ZIP is matched to its Census tabulation-area centroid inside your browser, then compared against 8,055 river gauges that publish flood thresholds.
- 02
Read the gauge
The nearest reporting gauge's current stage comes from NOAA's National Water Prediction Service, along with its river forecast where one is published.
- 03
Compare to official stages
That reading is placed against the action, minor, moderate and major flood stages the National Weather Service sets for that specific gauge.
- 04
Say what it means
The impact statement for the next threshold is written by the local forecast office — it describes the roads and property affected, not a generic risk band.
don't drown.
Most flood deaths happen in vehicles. Six inches of moving water can knock an adult off their feet and twelve inches can carry off a car. HighWater is a planning tool built from public data; it is not a warning service, it does not cover every waterway, and it cannot see the road in front of you.