NH Stream Gauge Website - Updated with new features

[bikehikeskifish]

Many of us are familiar with the stream height page, at the following URL

http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/?m=real&r=nh

Today I noticed they added some new features. When you hover over a station, you can get three mini data pages - Summary (the usual summary data), Hydrograph (one of the real-time graphs), and Forecast (a prediction graph). Clicking on any one of the three gets you the full-sized view. I hope the Forecast will be helpful in making go/no-go decisions. I would appreciate input from the more-experienced people out there. Then again, most of 'you' probably just wade across when they are high / deep. I've only taken my boots off once.

Tim

 

[1HappyHiker]

Tim, I hope you don’t mind a comment from a less experienced person, but just want to thank you for posting this tidbit. Its useful info, and it might help tip the balance on those occasions when sort of teetering back & forth on a “go/no-go” decision.

 

[AndyF]

The hydrograph and forecast graphs in the mini tabbed pages are samples graphs and do not represent the actual data for that gage at that time. If you click on them to get the full graph you get something very different. So don't judge by the graphs on the mini tabbed pages. Those can be misleading. It might have been better to not show any graph there at all and just have a link to the real graph.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

The hydrograph and forecast graphs in the mini tabbed pages are samples graphs and do not represent the actual data for that gage at that time. If you click on them to get the full graph you get something very different. So don't judge by the graphs on the mini tabbed pages. Those can be misleading. It might have been better to not show any graph there at all and just have a link to the real graph.

Hmm. The Pemi, East Branch in Lincoln has the same hydrograph on the pop-up as it does on the detail page. Ditto for Pemi, Plymouth, and Andro in Bethlehem. I wonder if there is a browser cache thing in the way? Or maybe certain station(s) are off in some other way? Maybe the hover links are fetching the wrong data? I did find a few stations that are weird, like the Winnipesaukee River in Tilton.

There is a lag in the summary pane - which always has lagged - the actual detail data is more recent then the hover data, and always has been.

So for now we should label it untrustworthy and go check the detail. The big win then is that they now have the forecast.

Tim

 

[AndyF]

The mini tabbed graph is now matching up with the real data for me also, but definitely wasn't before.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Very cool upgrade, especially the stage forecasts for the gauging stations with solid blue circles (not the open circles, including the East Branch, my favorite for reference). Thanks for posting.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I have always thought it would be a nice addition to the standard trail condition template to cite the appropriate gauge along with its readings and the difficulty in stream crossings. That way collectively we might be able to build a table of what values make a given hike difficult. You can get some historical perspective from the stream gauge data, particularly the last 60 days, but then it goes absent for a while until the data is officially approved.

Yes I know people hiked successfully before online stream gauges and boards like VFTT

Tim

 

[AndyF]

I have always thought it would be a nice addition to the standard trail condition template to cite the appropriate gauge along with its readings and the difficulty in stream crossings. That way collectively we might be able to build a table of what values make a given hike difficult. You can get some historical perspective from the stream gauge data, particularly the last 60 days, but then it goes absent for a while until the data is officially approved.

I've done just that in some of my trail condition posts.For example