Is Katharagama flooding now?

As of Tue, 27 Oct, 12:07 am (Sri Lanka time), the Menik Ganga at Katharagama was 0.1 ft, below the 13.1 ft alert level, and steady.

Will the Menik Ganga at Katharagama rise in the next hour?

In the next hour the Menik Ganga at Katharagama should stay about the same (0.0–0.1 ft). This is a forecast from the recent trend, the gauges upstream and rain, not an official warning.

What is the flood level at Katharagama?

The official marks for this gauge are alert 13.1 ft, minor flood 15.1 ft, major flood 21.3 ft. Alert means the river has reached the alert mark: move valuables up and charge your phone. Minor flood means water is spilling over low ground, and major flood means move to safety.

Where does this come from and how often does it update?

River readings come from the Department of Irrigation's gauges, roughly once an hour, and this page checks for new ones every minute. This site is independent and not an official warning service: follow the Disaster Management Centre and call 117 in an emergency.

Katharagama Menik Ganga water level today (live)

Reading at 12:07 am · 51 min ago

Normal

0.1 ft

Next hour

Steady

Next 24 hours

No flooding expected today

The river is expected to stay below alert level for the next 24 hours.

Details

Expected to stay below alert level for the next 24 hours.

Published as 0.02 m (alert 4.0 m, minor flood 4.6 m, major flood 6.5 m)

In	Level	80% range	At
1h	0.1 ft	0.0 to 0.1	1:07 am
3h	0.1 ft	-0.1 to 0.2	3:07 am
6h	0.1 ft	-0.2 to 0.3	6:07 am
12h	0.1 ft	-0.4 to 0.4	12:07 pm
24h	0.1 ft	-0.7 to 0.6	12:07 am

Alert (13.1 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10
Minor flood (15.1 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10
Major flood (21.3 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10

Local trend

-0.01 ft/h

Upstream avg

n/a (top)

Rain that fell: 0.0 mm in the last 3 hours, 13 mm in the last 24 hours at this gauge (moderate rain)
Rain forecast: 18 mm in the next 24 hours over the catchment (moderate rain). Forecast model estimate.

Satellite estimate of rain over the catchment: 6.6 mm in the last 6 hours, 16.7 mm in the last 24 hours (to 12:30 am). In this dry-zone area it often reads much higher than the gauges, so treat it as an upper figure. GSMaP data by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

· At 1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h nothing we tested beat 'level stays the same' for this gauge, so that is the line, with a range taken from how much the gauge has really changed over that time.

How this is worked out
· Latest level at Katharagama and recent change. No gauge sits upstream of it (or none reports in step with it), so the catchment rain is its upstream signal.
· Forecast model estimate of catchment rain (Open-Meteo, area average over 17 grid cells above Katharagama): 15 mm modelled for the last 24 hours, 18 mm forecast for the next 24 hours, with ECMWF ensemble spread.
· The 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 hour steps use this gauge's own recent changes and the other gauges on the river (fitted to about 11 months of hourly readings, including the November 2025 Ditwah floods); where this was tested against 'level stays the same' it missed by less.

Is this right?

Each answer helps us improve the forecast for your area.

Water level

This gauge’s forecasts: the next hour is typically off by about 0.02 ft; 24 hours ahead, by about 0.09 ft (last 30 days, 27 checks).

When does Katharagama flood?

Flood warnings come mostly in November.

It’s October: usually a quieter month here, though heavy rain can still bring floods.

Recent floods

27 Nov – 29 Nov 2025Major flood
20 Jan – 21 Jan 2025Minor flood · estimated
15 Jan – 17 Jan 2025Minor flood · estimated

Every day since 2022, year by year

Other stations

Towns that depend on this gauge

Kataragama

Flood help & emergency numbers

Common questions

Is Katharagama flooding now?: As of Tue, 27 Oct, 12:07 am (Sri Lanka time), the Menik Ganga at Katharagama was 0.1 ft, below the 13.1 ft alert level, and steady.
Will the Menik Ganga at Katharagama rise in the next hour?: In the next hour the Menik Ganga at Katharagama should stay about the same (0.0–0.1 ft). This is a forecast from the recent trend, the gauges upstream and rain, not an official warning.
What is the flood level at Katharagama?: The official marks for this gauge are alert 13.1 ft, minor flood 15.1 ft, major flood 21.3 ft. Alert means the river has reached the alert mark: move valuables up and charge your phone. Minor flood means water is spilling over low ground, and major flood means move to safety.
Where does this come from and how often does it update?: River readings come from the Department of Irrigation's gauges, roughly once an hour, and this page checks for new ones every minute. This site is independent and not an official warning service: follow the Disaster Management Centre and call 117 in an emergency.