Is Urawa flooding now?

As of Tue, 27 Oct, 1:11 am (Sri Lanka time), the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa was 8.2 ft, above the 8.2 ft alert level, and falling.

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

In the next hour the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa should stay about the same (8.0–8.3 ft). This is a forecast from the recent trend, the gauges upstream and rain, not an official warning.

What is the flood level at Urawa?

The official marks for this gauge are alert 8.2 ft, minor flood 13.1 ft, major flood 19.7 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.

Urawa Nilwala Ganga water level today (live)

Reading at 1:11 am · 2 h ago

Alert

8.2 ft

Next hour

Falling

Next 24 hours

No estimate yet

Move valuables up, charge your phone

Above alert level now but expected to ease below it within 24 hours.

Call 117 Matara DMC office

Details

Above alert level now but expected to ease below it within 24 hours.

Published as 2.50 m (alert 2.5 m, minor flood 4.0 m, major flood 6.0 m)

Elevated river-flow outlook this week.

In	Level	80% range	At
1h	8.2 ft	8.0 to 8.3	2:11 am
3h	8.1 ft	7.6 to 8.5	4:11 am
6h	8.2 ft	7.1 to 9.0	7:11 am
12h	8.2 ft	6.5 to 9.2	1:11 pm
24h	8.2 ft	6.1 to 9.4	1:11 am

Minor flood (13.1 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10
Major flood (19.7 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10

Local trend

-0.07 ft/h

Upstream avg

+0.1 ft/h

Rain that fell: 4.4 mm in the last 3 hours, 72 mm in the last 24 hours at this gauge (heavy rain)
Rain forecast: 22 mm in the next 24 hours over the catchment (moderate rain). Forecast model estimate.

Satellite estimate of rain over the catchment: 54.8 mm in the last 6 hours, 153.6 mm in the last 24 hours (to 2:30 am). It can differ from the gauges. GSMaP data by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Pitabeddara 14.8mm

· 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 (8.4 ft); treat it as a rough guide.
· At 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.
· Some rain is forecast over the catchment: about 22 mm in the next 24 hours (ensemble range 8 to 38 mm).

How this is worked out
· Latest level at Urawa and recent change, plus upstream gauges: Pitabeddara.
· Forecast model estimate of catchment rain (Open-Meteo, area average over 7 grid cells above Urawa): 47 mm modelled for the last 24 hours, 22 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 0.2 ft; 24 hours ahead, by about 0.4 ft (last 30 days, 18 checks).

When does Urawa flood?

Flood warnings come mostly between November and December.

It’s October: floods are less common than in November, but they do happen.

Recent floods

26 Apr 2026Minor flood
10 Jan 2026Minor flood
12 Dec – 23 Dec 2023Minor flood · estimated
Biggest since 2022:30 Nov – 6 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

Deniyaya

Common questions

Is Urawa flooding now?: As of Tue, 27 Oct, 1:11 am (Sri Lanka time), the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa was 8.2 ft, above the 8.2 ft alert level, and falling.
Will the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa rise in the next hour?: In the next hour the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa should stay about the same (8.0–8.3 ft). This is a forecast from the recent trend, the gauges upstream and rain, not an official warning.
What is the flood level at Urawa?: The official marks for this gauge are alert 8.2 ft, minor flood 13.1 ft, major flood 19.7 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.

Common questions

Is Urawa flooding now?: As of Tue, 27 Oct, 1:11 am (Sri Lanka time), the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa was 8.2 ft, above the 8.2 ft alert level, and falling.
Will the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa rise in the next hour?: In the next hour the Nilwala Ganga at Urawa should stay about the same (8.0–8.3 ft). This is a forecast from the recent trend, the gauges upstream and rain, not an official warning.
What is the flood level at Urawa?: The official marks for this gauge are alert 8.2 ft, minor flood 13.1 ft, major flood 19.7 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.

Reading at 1:11 am · 2 h ago

Alert

8.2 ft

Next hour

Falling

Next 24 hours

No estimate yet

Move valuables up, charge your phone

Above alert level now but expected to ease below it within 24 hours.

Call 117 Matara DMC office

Details

Above alert level now but expected to ease below it within 24 hours.

Published as 2.50 m (alert 2.5 m, minor flood 4.0 m, major flood 6.0 m)

Elevated river-flow outlook this week.

In	Level	80% range	At
1h	8.2 ft	8.0 to 8.3	2:11 am
3h	8.1 ft	7.6 to 8.5	4:11 am
6h	8.2 ft	7.1 to 9.0	7:11 am
12h	8.2 ft	6.5 to 9.2	1:11 pm
24h	8.2 ft	6.1 to 9.4	1:11 am

Minor flood (13.1 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10
Major flood (19.7 ft): unlikely, about 1 in 10

Local trend

-0.07 ft/h

Upstream avg

+0.1 ft/h

Rain that fell: 4.4 mm in the last 3 hours, 72 mm in the last 24 hours at this gauge (heavy rain)
Rain forecast: 22 mm in the next 24 hours over the catchment (moderate rain). Forecast model estimate.

Pitabeddara 14.8mm

· 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 (8.4 ft); treat it as a rough guide.
· At 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.
· Some rain is forecast over the catchment: about 22 mm in the next 24 hours (ensemble range 8 to 38 mm).

How this is worked out
· Latest level at Urawa and recent change, plus upstream gauges: Pitabeddara.
· Forecast model estimate of catchment rain (Open-Meteo, area average over 7 grid cells above Urawa): 47 mm modelled for the last 24 hours, 22 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.