Flash flood warning? Get to higher ground now. Don't wait to see water.
- Never walk, swim or drive into moving water: 6 inches can knock you down, 12 inches can carry away a car.
- Stay out of slot canyons, narrows and dry washes when storms are anywhere upstream, even under a blue sky.
- This site shows what the rivers are doing. It is not an official warning; heed NWS warnings and local officials.
Why this exists
Desert rivers rise fast, often under a blue sky.
Where the water is going
A storm 60 miles upstream can reach town hours later. Gauges see it pass; we show where it's headed and roughly when it arrives.
Everything on one map
USGS gauges, NWS flood alerts and forecasts, and the last hour of rain radar, together.
Gauges from USGS, alerts from NWS
Measured numbers come straight from USGS. Anything modelled is labelled an estimate, with sources one tap away.
Sources
- River flow and stage: USGS Water Data (provisional, every 5–15 min)
- Forecasts and flood stages: NWS National Water Prediction Service
- Watches and warnings: National Weather Service API
- Rain radar: NWS NEXRAD via Iowa Environmental Mesonet
- River lines: USGS National Hydrography Dataset · imagery Esri World Imagery