Is Panadugama flooding now?

As of Tue, 27 Oct, 12:17 am (Sri Lanka time), the Nilwala Ganga at Panadugama was 20.6 ft, above the 19.7 ft minor flood level, and rising.

Will the Nilwala Ganga at Panadugama rise in the next hour?

In the next hour the Nilwala Ganga at Panadugama could rise to about 20.8 ft (20.5–21.1 ft). This is a forecast from the recent trend, the gauges upstream and rain, not an official warning.

What is the flood level at Panadugama?

The official marks for this gauge are alert 16.4 ft, minor flood 19.7 ft, major flood 24.6 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.

Panadugama Nilwala Ganga water level today (live)

Reading at 12:17 am · 40 min ago

Minor flood

20.6 ft

Next hour

Rising slowly

Next 24 hours

No estimate yet

Leave low areas near the river

The river is expected to stay above minor flood level for the next 24 hours.

Call 117 Matara DMC office

Details

Above minor flood level now and expected to stay there for the next 24 hours.

Published as 6.29 m (alert 5.0 m, minor flood 6.0 m, major flood 7.5 m)

Elevated river-flow outlook this week.

In	Level	80% range	At
1h	20.8 ft	20.5 to 21.1	1:17 am
3h	20.9 ft	20.3 to 21.8	3:17 am
6h	21.0 ft	19.9 to 22.5	6:17 am
12h	20.9 ft	18.9 to 23.0	12:17 pm
24h	20.6 ft	17.4 to 23.8	12:17 am

Major flood (24.6 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10

Local trend

+0.2 ft/h

Upstream avg

+0.09 ft/h

Rain that fell: 0.0 mm in the last 3 hours, 61 mm in the last 24 hours at this gauge (heavy rain)
Rain forecast: 25 mm in the next 24 hours over the catchment (moderate rain). Forecast model estimate.

Satellite estimate of rain over the catchment: 62.8 mm in the last 6 hours, 139.5 mm in the last 24 hours (to 12:30 am). It can differ from the gauges. GSMaP data by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Pitabeddara 14.8mm · Urawa 18.3mm

· Outlook: the GloFAS global flood model has river flow at 263 m3/s in its highest member within 7 days, above the 1-in-20 level (89 m3/s). This is a heads-up only; it does not change the levels above.
· Part of the range is above the highest level this model has seen (21.9 ft); treat it as a rough guide.
· Some rain is forecast over the catchment: about 25 mm in the next 24 hours (ensemble range 11 to 42 mm).

How this is worked out
· Latest level at Panadugama and recent change, plus upstream gauges: Pitabeddara.
· Forecast model estimate of catchment rain (Open-Meteo, area average over 11 grid cells above Panadugama): 47 mm modelled for the last 24 hours, 25 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 0.8 ft; 24 hours ahead, by about 1.2 ft (last 30 days, 28 checks).

When does Panadugama flood?

Flood warnings come mostly between October and December.

It’s October: the main flood season here. Worth checking levels daily after heavy rain.

Recent floods

13 Oct – 18 Oct 2026Minor flood
24 Sep – 26 Sep 2026Minor flood
20 Sep – 21 Sep 2026Minor flood
Biggest since 2022:4 Nov – 7 Dec 2023Major flood · estimated

Every day since 2022, year by year

Other stations

Along the Nilwala Ganga

Arrows show the change over the last 3 hours.

Towns that depend on this gauge

Akuressa

Common questions

Is Panadugama flooding now?: As of Tue, 27 Oct, 12:17 am (Sri Lanka time), the Nilwala Ganga at Panadugama was 20.6 ft, above the 19.7 ft minor flood level, and rising.
Will the Nilwala Ganga at Panadugama rise in the next hour?: In the next hour the Nilwala Ganga at Panadugama could rise to about 20.8 ft (20.5–21.1 ft). This is a forecast from the recent trend, the gauges upstream and rain, not an official warning.
What is the flood level at Panadugama?: The official marks for this gauge are alert 16.4 ft, minor flood 19.7 ft, major flood 24.6 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.