The Steelhead Alley Index

Transition Mode

Sunday, September 13, 2026

The Steelhead Alley Index is in Transition Mode: water temperature decides whether the read behaves more like a coldwater steelhead window or a warmwater river window. Today's score blends flow, water temperature, clarity, weather, barometric pressure, and active storm state for every active gauge into a single regional read.

Average

Underlying score: 35/100 · Index ranks vs. Sep 13 ±15-day history

▼ -22 vs. yesterday

Tomorrow's predicted Index

65 Average 55% confidence

SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook

Slight Risk · 7 rivers in zone

Valid Sep 13 12:30pm – Sep 14 8:00am EDT

Cattaraugus Creek Eighteen Mile Creek Buffalo Creek Cazenovia Creek Genesee River Irondequoit Creek Tuscarawas River

Source: NWS Storm Prediction Center (spc.noaa.gov). Risk tier indicates severe-weather (large hail, damaging wind, tornado) probability over the next 24 hours.

Storm Watch — by region

Four state+lake buckets · auto-refreshes when conditions change

OH · Erie

Quiet

All quiet — no rain, no alerts, no rapid rises.

PA · Erie

Quiet

All quiet — no rain, no alerts, no rapid rises.

NY · Erie

Quiet

All quiet — no rain, no alerts, no rapid rises.

NY · Ontario

Moderate

1 rising

1 river rising 1.6×+ in 6h

▲ Irondequoit Creek

My Alley

Your Subset Score

Personal stat — separate from the official Alley Index above. Not for citing externally.

· rivers

States

Within drive

Your Subset

Ranked vs. visible history

Last 30 days · 30 snapshots

Alley Index Your subset

Week Month Quarter Year All

of rivers blown

Today's Story

Fall is unwinding into the run. The Steelhead Alley Index reads 39 (Average) today. The alley is ACTIVE: 1 rivers are reacting to storm water right now. Flow up 51% in 6h. Watch Genesee River. Down 24 from yesterday.

Transition months are unpredictable — water temps swing, runs straggle, and what fished yesterday may not fish today. Cuyahoga River and Irondequoit Creek are leading the Alley right now. Check live conditions before you commit to a drive.

By Technique & Region

Raw composite (0–100) — not percentile-ranked

Fly

Float

Erie Tribs

Ontario Tribs

Top Today

In Trouble

All 31 Rivers — by State

River	Rating	Score
Ohio 11 rivers · avg 32
Cuyahoga River	good	73
Conneaut Creek	good	55
Ashtabula River	fair	45
Huron River	fair	45
Rocky River	fair	36
Vermilion River	fair	36
Chagrin River	fair	27
Grand River	poor	9
Brandy Run	poor	9
Black River	poor	9
Euclid Creek	poor	9
Pennsylvania 4 rivers · avg 36
Walnut Creek	fair	45
Twenty Mile Creek	fair	36
Crooked Creek	fair	36
Elk Creek	fair	27
New York — Lake Erie 7 rivers · avg 25
Cattaraugus Creek	excellent	82
Chautauqua Creek	poor	18
Eighteen Mile Creek	poor	18
Buffalo Creek	poor	18
Cazenovia Creek	poor	18
Canadaway Creek	poor	9
Silver Creek	poor	9
New York — Lake Ontario 9 rivers · avg 45
Irondequoit Creek	good	64
Oak Orchard Creek	good	55
Sandy Creek (Hamlin)	good	55
Johnson Creek	good	55
Eighteenmile Creek (Niagara)	good	55
Black River (Watertown)	fair	45
Genesee River	fair	36
Sandy Creek (Adams)	fair	27
Salmon River	poor	9

Methodology. The Alley Index is a percentile rank — today's underlying conditions composite (mean of per-river fishing scores, 0–100) is compared to the historical record on this calendar window (±15 days, all years). An Index of 73 means today is better than 73% of comparable late-season days on record. Bands: Excellent 90+, Good 70–89, Average 30–69, Poor 10–29, Blown 0–9. Refreshed hourly. Season-calibrated: summer mode uses warmwater temperature bands, transition mode follows water temperature, and steelhead mode uses coldwater steelhead bands.

Index calibrating: percentile bands tighten as the historical archive grows. When fewer than 10 comparable days exist in the window, the Index falls back to the raw underlying score so the page always shows a meaningful number.

JSON API: /index/api