Burnt Creek near Bismarck Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Burnt Creek near Bismarck in ND, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location ND, United States
- Watershed painted woods square butte
- Primary gauge 06342450 (USGS)
About Burnt Creek near Bismarck
Burnt Creek near Bismarck is in the Painted Woods-Square Butte watershed in North Dakota.
The watershed
The station drains 111 sq mi (288 km2) upstream of the gauge, so the numbers here describe what reaches this point, not the whole watershed name. This is a USGS site with 50 years on record.
For this kind of prairie creek, the seasonal pattern matters as much as any single reading. The highest typical month is March at 5.24 ft (1.6 m), and the lowest typical month is February at 4.53 ft (1.38 m). That is a typical annual swing of 8.5 in (21.7 cm), which is modest on paper but still enough to change bank access, shallow crossings, and how a small intake sits in the water.
The record high is 13.45 ft (4.1 m) in April 2009. The record low is 2.44 ft (0.74 m) in August 2002. Those two marks show the range this creek can reach: one end is a high-water event that can push water well above the usual channel line, and the other is a low stage that can leave little depth in the shallowest spots.
What the numbers say
The seasonal shape is late-winter to early-spring high water, with the usual low point in February and the usual high point in March. For people watching a dock, culvert, or bank access, that means the creek is normally near its yearly high before spring fully settles in.
The record values also show why a single day does not tell the whole story. A stage that looks ordinary in one month can be far from ordinary in another. On this creek, the spread between the typical February and March levels is small compared with the record range, so short spikes matter.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s stage against the median for this calendar day across the 50-year record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it puts the reading in season, where this creek’s normal ups and downs actually live.
For a USGS station, the comparison to the daily median gives a cleaner picture of whether Burnt Creek is running higher or lower than expected for today, rather than just showing the absolute water level.
How this page is built
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Alerts that watch the water for you
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Where Nibi comes from
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Coverage
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
Free forever, funded by members
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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