The Steelhead Alley Index
Saturday, May 9, 2026
SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook
Slight Risk · 18 rivers in zone
Valid May 9 4:00pm – May 10 8:00am EDT
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
PA · Erie
Moderate4 rising
4 rivers rising 1.7×+ in 6h
NY · Ontario
QuietAll quiet — no rain, no alerts, no rapid rises.
My Alley
Your Subset Score
Personal stat — separate from the official Alley Index above. Not for citing externally.
Today's Story
Leading the day: Ashtabula River, Eighteenmile Creek (Niagara), Irondequoit Creek. Steer clear of Rocky River, Vermilion River, Grand River — flow or clarity has them out. The high-water mark for May is 87, set on May 3.
By Technique & Region
Raw composite (0–100) — not percentile-ranked
Fly
Float
Erie Tribs
Ontario Tribs
Top Today
- Ashtabula River 73
- Oak Orchard Creek 64
- Conneaut Creek 55
- Twenty Mile Creek 55
- Crooked Creek 55
In Trouble
All 31 Rivers — by State
| River | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Ohio
11 rivers · avg 17
|
||
| Ashtabula River | good | 73 |
| Conneaut Creek | good | 55 |
| Euclid Creek | fair | 36 |
| Brandy Run | poor | 18 |
| Rocky River | poor | 0 |
| Chagrin River | poor | 0 |
| Vermilion River | poor | 0 |
| Grand River | poor | 0 |
| Cuyahoga River | poor | 0 |
| Huron River | poor | 0 |
| Black River | poor | 0 |
|
Pennsylvania
4 rivers · avg 48
|
||
| Twenty Mile Creek | good | 55 |
| Crooked Creek | good | 55 |
| Walnut Creek | fair | 45 |
| Elk Creek | fair | 36 |
|
New York — Lake Erie
7 rivers · avg 31
|
||
| Buffalo Creek | fair | 45 |
| Chautauqua Creek | fair | 36 |
| Eighteen Mile Creek | fair | 36 |
| Silver Creek | fair | 36 |
| Cazenovia Creek | fair | 36 |
| Canadaway Creek | poor | 18 |
| Cattaraugus Creek | poor | 9 |
|
New York — Lake Ontario
9 rivers · avg 38
|
||
| Oak Orchard Creek | good | 64 |
| Salmon River | fair | 45 |
| Sandy Creek (Hamlin) | fair | 45 |
| Irondequoit Creek | fair | 45 |
| Eighteenmile Creek (Niagara) | fair | 45 |
| Sandy Creek (Adams) | fair | 45 |
| Black River (Watertown) | fair | 27 |
| Genesee River | poor | 18 |
| Johnson Creek | 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. Steelhead-calibrated.
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