Bighead River near Meaford water level

Name: Bighead River near Meaford water level (Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada)
Creator: Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada
License: https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada

River gauge, Bighead River, Ontario, Canada

Directions

Low for mid-October

Water level

10.37m Down 0.02 m over the last 24 hours

Measured Oct 19, 2026, 03:30 AM EDT (2 hours ago)

Flow: 0.75 m³/s

History

7 days 30 days 1 year Years compared

20252026

Water level Normal range (10–90 %)

What this means

At 10.37 m, the Bighead River near Meaford is below normal for mid-October.

The median for mid-October is 10.48 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the water level is 0.11 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 10.35 m, a difference of +0.02 m.

The level is falling, down 0.02 m over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 10.30 m and 10.50 m.

Fall is often low-water season on rivers, and it usually takes a few days of steady rain to change that.

Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date: 10.48 m0.11 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 10.36 m – 10.86 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Same day last year: 10.35 m+0.02 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 10.30 m – 10.50 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 10.30 m – 11.60 m

Conditions at Bighead River near Meaford

Low water means shallow riffles on canoe trips and warmer water for fish.

Flood advisories come from the provincial river forecast centre.

About the Bighead River

The Bighead River is a river in Grey County in southern Ontario, Canada, that flows from the Niagara Escarpment between the communities along Ontario Highway 10 of Arnott and Holland Centre in the township of Chatsworth to empty into Nottawasaga Bay, an inlet of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, at Meaford.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 8.7 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

19 Mon 18° 8° – Wind 30 km/h

20 Tue 12° 5° – Wind 14 km/h

21 Wed 17° 5° – Wind 9 km/h

22 Thu 17° 7° – Wind 13 km/h

23 Fri 15° 5° – Wind 17 km/h

24 Sat 17° 4° – Wind 13 km/h

25 Sun 19° 9° – Wind 32 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:43 AM Sunset 06:33 PM Daylight 10 hr, 50 min First quarter 57%

Map

Other gauges on the Bighead River

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Bighead River near StrathavonRiver gauge, Bighead River	7.17 m	Normal	−0.01 m	15 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Beaver River near ClarksburgRiver gauge, Beaver River	0.59 m	Low	−0.01 m	15 km
Mill Creek near Red WingRiver gauge, Mill Creek	5.84 m	Low	−0.03 m	17 km
Sydenham River near Owen SoundRiver gauge, Sydenham River	4.89 m	Very low	−0.01 m	23 km
Beaver River near VandeleurRiver gauge, Beaver River	7.13 m	Very low	−0.01 m	26 km
Pretty River at CollingwoodRiver gauge, Pretty River	1.87 m	Low	−0.01 m	36 km
Sauble River at AllenfordRiver gauge, Sauble River	4.74 m	Low	±0	42 km
Saugeen River above DurhamRiver gauge, Saugeen River	1.23 m	Normal	−0.01 m	44 km
Sauble River at Sauble FallsRiver gauge, Sauble River	0.78 m	Low	+0.01 m	50 km

Questions and answers

Is the Bighead River near Meaford higher than last year?

Yes, it is 0.02 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 10.35 m.

What is a normal level for the Bighead River near Meaford in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 10.48 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 10.36 m and 10.86 m, based on 21 years of records.

Is the river level the same as the depth of the water?

No. The reading is measured from a fixed zero mark at the gauge, so 10.37 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Bighead River near Meaford today?

On Oct 19, 2026, 03:30 AM EDT, the water level was 10.37 m. Down 0.02 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Bighead River near Meaford rising or falling?

Down 0.02 m over the last 24 hours. Up 0.05 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Bighead River near Meaford normal?

Low for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.

How often is this data updated?

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada publishes a new reading every hour. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada
Station code: eccc:02FB010 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 44.57017, -80.64850 (WGS84)
Vertical datum: station datum (assumed datum)
Update interval: every hour
Licence: Open Government Licence – Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada

Published series

Parameter	Last value	Time (UTC)	Quality
Water level	10.37 m	2026-10-19 07:30	Provisional
Flow	0.75 m³/s	2026-10-19 07:30	Provisional

Download

Embed this gauge

Add a live card for this gauge to your website. It updates on its own and links back here.

<iframe src="https://nivelmap.com/embed/19637?lang=en" width="360" height="230" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="Bighead River near Meaford water level"></iframe>

How to cite

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada: Bighead River near Meaford (eccc:02FB010). Accessed October 19, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/canada/ontario/bighead-river-near-meaford

How we check values

Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.

Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer