Basin level · First Street
— ft
Station 01104705 ↗Lower Charles · paddling and sailing
Checking current conditions
Checking water-contact alerts, recent rain, wind, gusts and temperatures before your trip.
MIT Sailing: Original weather station ↗ · Four river cameras ↗
Recent measured rainfall
Checking the local rain gauge…
Check local launch and rental restrictions. Wear a life jacket and dress for immersion: NWS cold-water guidance ↗
Current water-contact reports
Checking current sources…
Recent basin discharge reports
Current reports and events from the past 48 hours.
| Outfall | Report time | Details and original source |
|---|
Current discharge-report status is unknown.
Explore the lower Charles
Cameras Gauges
Weather CSO / advisories
Kayak put-ins Obstacles
Access pins are reference locations; check posted restrictions.
Weather CSO / advisories
Kayak put-ins Obstacles
Access pins are reference locations; check posted restrictions.
Look at the river
Video players, all four latest MIT views, and Boston University PhenoCam. Videos start muted when you press play; image labels show publisher file times.
Water levels and harbor context
Wind · Boston Logan
— kt
Logan observations ↗Upstream flow · Waltham
— ft³/s
Upstream context ↗Harbor water level · Boston
— ft
Harbor side of dam ↗Gage height is not water depth. Waltham is upstream; harbor tides apply outside the dam.
Sources and planning rules
For paddling and sailing between Watertown Dam and New Charles River Dam.
Alert thresholds, source coverage and freshness
How to use these conditions
Check the overall summary, then the wind forecast and water-contact alerts for your launch area. Open-basin exposure, boat wakes and conditions at a sheltered dock can differ. Check your operator’s restrictions before launching.
Community Boating restrictions · MIT local weather · NWS basin forecast
Wind and cold planning flags
Site wind cautions begin at 15 kt sustained or 20 kt gusts; stronger flags begin at 20 kt sustained or 25 kt gusts. These are conservative trip-planning thresholds, not official limits or closures. Craft, ability and exposure matter.
Cold-air flags begin at 41°F / 5°C, freezing-air flags at 32°F / 0°C, and cold-water flags at 59°F / 15°C. Air temperature does not establish water temperature or river ice. A fresh MIT local observation is preferred; Boston Logan is fallback regional context. MIT’s station clock is interpreted in Boston time and checked against its HTTP modification time.
Rainfall water-contact precautions
MWRA advises avoiding water contact during rainstorms and for 48 hours afterward. This site generates a precaution when at least 0.10 in is measured over the gauge’s recent 48-hour window and a wet interval was reported within 48 hours. Heavy-rain context begins at 0.50 in in 24 hours or 1.00 in in 72 hours. These rainfall amounts are site heuristics, not validated contamination thresholds or reports of a CSO.
The local USGS Muddy River gauge is near the basin. Totals end at its latest reported observation, with complete 10-minute interval coverage required. One gauge cannot measure rain across the entire basin. The last wet report has about 10 minutes of boundary uncertainty and is not an exact storm ending; a precaution window is approximate and new rain or discharge can extend it.
MWRA guidance and discharge notices · USGS rain gauge
Current data only
Old water samples, past advisories and archive event tables are omitted. Instrument and sensor values expire after two hours; current-source checks expire after 15 minutes. Forecasts expire after 12 hours and their valid periods remain explicit. Rain data may be cached for an hour to respect the public gauge service. Failed collections clear prior results. Images require recent publisher modification times; unavailable data remain unknown.
Original official notices and local closures take precedence. The page is publicly accessible by URL and requires no ChatGPT login.