Clearer air, more rock
The individual falls separate and the basalt shelves show. Photographs come out sharper because there is less mist in front of the lens. Everything stays open.
Station 65992502 · measured, not estimated
Iguazu Falls water flow right now
1,147m³/s
- 0.76×the historical average
- Below averageour reading of the number
- -34%in the last 24 hours
- Risingnext 13 hours · see the trend
Measured at local time (Foz do Iguaçu). This page refreshes every hour.
Iguazu Falls is flowing at 1,147 cubic metres per second right now — 0.76 times its historical average of 1,500 m³/s. A calmer river than the yearly average — still unmistakably Iguazu, with less spray on the walkways.
The part that actually matters
Does the water flow change what you will see?
Yes, but almost never in the way people fear. Iguazu is a system of hundreds of waterfalls over a two-and-a-half kilometre cliff, and it never runs dry. What the flow changes is the character of the day: how much spray reaches the walkways, how far you can see across the gorge, and whether the falls read as many separate curtains or as one continuous wall of water.
The Iguazu of the photographs
Full curtains, a steady roar, rainbows in the afternoon light and enough spray on the final walkway to be worth a light rain layer.
Louder, wetter, more theatrical
The falls merge into broader sheets. Expect to get properly wet near Devil’s Throat and to lose some distant detail to the mist.
Power over visibility
Spray can hide the opposite bank entirely and the walkways closest to the water may close. Impressive, but the classic panorama can disappear behind its own mist.
What we will not tell you from a number. Whether a boat ride is running on a given day is not something you can read off a flow chart, and operators do not publish that status in real time. We confirm it with them for your date — and confirm it again on the morning of your visit.
The last three days, hour by hour
Where the river has been
Every point is one hourly reading from the station at the falls. The flat line is the historical average, so you can see at a glance whether today sits above or below it.
- 72-hour low1,147 m³/s
- 72-hour high2,926 m³/s
- Historical average1,500 m³/s
The river tells you first
Where the water will be in half a day
The water that will fall over Iguazu tomorrow morning is already in the river today, and it passes gauging stations on the way. Porto Capanema sees it about 13 hours before the falls do. Comparing what that station reads now against what it read 13 hours ago gives the direction of the next half day — right now that points to around 1,523 m³/s by about 7:00 AM.
The river is rising
Around 1,523 m³/s by about 7:00 AM local time — +33% from now.
last 7 days
Porto Capanema
1,507 m³/s
measured 6:00 PM · reaches the falls around 7:00 AM
+18% there in 24 h
Salto Caxias
1,656 m³/s
measured 6:00 PM · reaches the falls around 3:00 PM
+27% there in 24 h
How this is calculated, and how honest it is.
The method is additive: today’s reading at the falls, plus the change measured upstream over the same 13-hour lag. The lag itself was measured by correlating the two stations hour by hour. This page re-runs its own predictions for the last seven days against what actually happened and publishes the score above — currently 207 hourly comparisons.
It is a trend, not an official forecast. It only works while the water is already in the river; rain that has not fallen yet is not in the number. That is why we say “around” and never publish a precise figure for a precise minute.
Give the number a scale
Is that a lot? Compared to what.
A flow figure means nothing on its own. These are the marks the river has left, and where today sits among them.
- TodayAug 24, 2026, 6:00 PM
- Record — 9 June 2014The largest flood ever measured at the falls
- October 2023 floodSecond largest in recent memory
- October 2022 floodWalkways closed for days
- Historical averageThe long-term reference
Scale note. The bars are drawn against the 2014 record, which is roughly thirty times the historical average — so an ordinary day looks small here on purpose. That contrast is the point: the falls you will see on a normal visit are already the largest waterfall system on Earth by flow.
The mechanism
Why the flow changes so much, so fast
The Iguaçu river is born near the Atlantic coast, more than a thousand kilometres away, and collects the rain of an entire state before it arrives here. Rain that falls far inland today is not water you will see today — it is water that reaches the falls in the days that follow. That delay is exactly what makes a short-term trend possible at all.
On the way it passes a staircase of hydroelectric dams. They smooth the small variations and can hold water back for hours, which is why the river sometimes steps up or down rather than sliding. What they do not do is control a flood: once the basin is saturated, the water comes through.
The basin has no dependable dry season. Higher flows cluster between October and March and lower ones between July and September, but the pattern breaks often enough that a monthly average is a poor way to plan. El Niño years in particular can put a flood in a month that is supposed to be quiet.
And the falls never stop. Even in the driest stretch on record, water kept coming over the cliff. The question for a visitor is never whether there will be water — only which version of Iguazu is on that week.
Direct answers
What people ask about the water
How much water flows over Iguazu Falls?
It changes every hour. The long-term average is about 1,500 cubic metres per second, but the river regularly runs at half that in a dry spell and several times that after heavy rain in the basin. The number at the top of this page is the most recent hourly reading from the gauging station at the falls.
What is a normal water flow at Iguazu Falls?
Anything between roughly 1,000 and 2,200 m³/s looks like the Iguazu of the postcards. Below about 900 m³/s the rock shelves start to show; above about 4,000 m³/s the spray becomes heavy enough to hide the far bank and the lowest walkways can close.
Does low water ruin a visit to Iguazu Falls?
No. Low water changes the experience rather than cancelling it: you see more of the cliff structure, the individual falls separate into distinct curtains, photographs are clearer because there is less spray, and the walkways stay open. Very high water is more dramatic but often means less visibility and more closures.
Where does the water flow measurement come from?
From station 65992502, "Hotel Cataratas", on the Brazilian bank at the falls. It is operated by Copel and its readings are published hourly through the public telemetry network of ANA, Brazil's National Water and Sanitation Agency. We read that public feed directly — nothing here is estimated.
Can the water flow at Iguazu Falls be predicted?
Partly, and only for the next several hours. The same water passes gauging stations upstream before it reaches the falls: Porto Capanema about 13 hours earlier, Salto Caxias about 21 hours earlier. Comparing those readings gives a reliable direction for the next half day. Beyond that it depends on rain that has not fallen yet.
How accurate is the trend on this page?
We re-check it against reality every hour. The page recalculates what it would have predicted for each of the last seven days and compares that to what the river actually did. The current score is shown next to the trend, alongside what a naive "it will stay the same" guess would have scored.
Does high water close the walkways at Iguazu Falls?
It can. The walkways closest to the water — including the Devil's Throat balcony on the Argentinian side — are the first to close during major floods, and the decision belongs to each national park, not to us. Ordinary high water usually just means more spray and a poncho.
Are the boat rides affected by the river level?
They can be, but river level alone does not tell you whether a boat operates on a given day. Operators suspend and resume on their own criteria and do not publish that status in real time. We confirm the operating status with them for your date rather than inferring it from a number.
What was the biggest flood ever recorded at Iguazu Falls?
On 9 June 2014 the river reached roughly 46,300 m³/s, about thirty times the historical average. There were smaller but still exceptional floods in October 2022 and October 2023, both of which closed walkways for days.
What is the best time of year for water flow at Iguazu Falls?
There is no single answer, because the basin has no reliable dry season. Higher flows are more common from October to March and lower flows from July to September, but both patterns break often. Checking the live reading a few days before you travel tells you more than any monthly average.
Where this comes from
Checkable, not decorative
- ANA — National Water and Sanitation Agency, public telemetry ↗
- Iguaçu National Park — official visitor website (Brazil) ↗
- Parque Nacional Iguazú — official website (Argentina) ↗
- Iguaçu National Park — UNESCO World Heritage Centre ↗
Reading the river is half the planning. The other half is the day itself — which side when, how long at each viewpoint, and how the border fits in.