Conditions · Fox River

St. Charles Pool Conditions

Current river and weather conditions for the Fox River between South Elgin and St. Charles, focused on whether conditions support a reasonable on-water trip.

Updated Sep 9, 2026 9:30 PM CDT
Next 3 Hours NO-GO
Next 24 Hours GO Stable
Confidence: High Water: Normal Weather: Clear

The next three hours fall outside daylight hours.

The current NWS hourly forecast period is non-daylight, so the short-horizon operational result is NO GO. No material operational river limitation is currently identified.

Best On-Water Window Thu 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM

This is the longest continuous daylight period in the next 24 hours without a material operational weather limitation.

Map of the St. Charles Pool on the Fox River between the South Elgin Dam and St. Charles Dam

Current Evidence

What the Conditions Look Like

The river, weather, runoff, trend, and evidence-quality inputs behind the current on-water status.

Operational Flow
Normal
Absolute South Elgin discharge policy: elevated above 2,100 cfs, caution at 2,800 cfs, and no-go at 3,200 cfs.
River Flow
Typical
Seasonal river-flow position.
River Trend
Stable Or Typical
Current 24-hour river trajectory.
River Level
Typical
Seasonal river-level position.
Local Runoff
Typical
Composite local tributary runoff state.
Recent Rainfall
Elevated Recent Activity
Recent observed rainfall context.
Cold-Water Immersion
77.2 °F · Normal
The available upstream water-temperature estimate is above the model cold-water advisory threshold. Temperature is an upstream McHenry estimate rather than a measurement within the St. Charles Pool.
Current Daylight
Non Daylight
The first valid NWS hourly forecast period. Non-daylight hours force the next-three-hour operational result to NO GO.
Current Wind
8 mph
Observed sustained wind.
Current Gust
Not reported
Observed wind gust when reported by the current station observation.
3-Hour Maximum Wind
5 mph
Maximum sustained wind represented during the next three hours.
3-Hour Maximum Gust
5 mph
Maximum NWS forecast-grid wind gust during the next three hours.
Maximum Wind · Next 24 Hours
6 mph
Maximum sustained wind represented during the next 24 hours.
Maximum Gust · Next 24 Hours
9 mph
Maximum forecast wind gust during the next 24 hours.
Thunder Risk · Next 24 Hours
2%
Maximum numerical thunder probability represented during the next 24 hours.
Weather Risk
Clear
No material weather hazard is currently identified.
Rain in Next 24 Hours
0.00 in
Forecast rainfall that may change runoff and river trajectory.
Rain in Next 72 Hours
0.00 in
Longer-range rainfall context.
Current Direction
Stable
Whether operational river conditions appear to be improving, stable, deteriorating, or uncertain.
Model Confidence
High
Confidence reflects the completeness and freshness of the water and weather evidence.

Going Fishing?

See What These Conditions Mean for Fishing

The Fishing Outlook adds fishing-specific environmental conditions to the current water and weather state to determine whether the St. Charles Pool is worth fishing.

View Fishing Outlook

Local Water

About the St. Charles Pool

The geographic reach represented by these conditions.

The St. Charles Pool is the reach of the Fox River between the South Elgin Dam upstream and the St. Charles Dam downstream.

This is a broad, generally slow-moving section of the Fox with shallow flats, deeper channels, islands, shoreline structure, tributary mouths, and localized areas of stronger current. Water level, flow, runoff, and weather can materially change navigation and general on-water conditions.

Conditions shown here describe this specific pool. Monitoring stations elsewhere on the Fox River and on nearby tributaries are used where they provide useful evidence about water entering or moving through the pool.

For detailed river access, landmarks, portages, and navigation information, see the printable maps from Fabulous Fox Water Trail .

Explore the River Data View current monitoring inputs, recent changes, seven-day trends, and observation freshness for the St. Charles Pool.
View Current Observations

About These Conditions

This page evaluates whether current river and weather conditions support a reasonable on-water trip. It does not evaluate fishing productivity or predict whether fish are likely to bite.

River conditions are derived from locally archived USGS observations and historical open-water seasonal baselines. Weather conditions use current and forecast National Weather Service evidence.

Upstream water-quality measurements provide environmental context where direct measurements are not available within the St. Charles Pool. USGS observations may be provisional and subsequently revised.