Flathead River at Flathead British Columbia Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Flathead River at Flathead British Columbia in AK, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location AK, United States
- Watershed flathead
- Primary gauge 12355000 (USGS)
About Flathead River at Flathead British Columbia
The Flathead River in the Flathead watershed, Alaska, is monitored at Flathead British Columbia.
The watershed
This gauge sits on a river in the Flathead watershed, and the record shows a sharp seasonal cycle that matters for anyone taking water from the bank or launching a boat.
The highest monthly level is usually in May at 7.03 ft (2.14 m), while the lowest monthly level is usually in September at 4.35 ft (1.33 m). That difference is a typical annual swing of 32.2 in (81.8 cm), which is the range a dock, intake, or shallow crossing has to live with through the year.
The extremes show a wider spread. The record high is 10.22 ft (3.12 m) in June 2020, and the record low is 3.74 ft (1.14 m) in March 2020. In this region, spring breakup and snowmelt are the season to watch for high water, while deep winter low water is part of the pattern.
What the numbers say
For users on the river, the main signal is not a single reading but the swing between seasons. May is typically the high-water month, September the low-water month, and the gap is enough to change how far a dock sits above the surface and how much margin an intake has before it starts to run shallow.
The record high in June 2020 reached 10.22 ft (3.12 m), well above the usual May level. The record low in March 2020 fell to 3.74 ft (1.14 m), below the usual September level. That means this site can move outside its seasonal average by a noticeable margin, even without a long lead time.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed in the station facts, so I can’t say how quickly this gauge has jumped in a day.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is best read against the median level for the same calendar day, not as a raw elevation.
That comparison tells you whether today is high, low, or near normal for this date at this station, using the local record rather than a fixed benchmark that can hide the seasonal cycle. At a USGS station with more than 50 years of record, that date-matched context is the better way to judge what the river is doing today.
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 17,900+ lakes and rivers
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers in a growing number of countries. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 17,900 gauged lakes and rivers in a growing number of countries, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, the Environment Agency for England, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Office of Public Works in Ireland (waterlevel.ie), the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), the State of Queensland's water monitoring network, and on the Great Lakes the Canadian Hydrographic Service and NOAA. 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.
Water Stories
Field notes and explainers from the Nibi desk - how to read a staff gauge, what a 100-year flood actually means, how snowpack becomes summer water.
The largest lake in Norway read under 8 metres for decades and reads over 120 today. The water did not move; the ruler did. What the zero of a gauge is, why a record only means something on one reference, and what we do when the zero moves.
There was no rain. A slab of glacier let go above the Trishuli, and a river gauge reading normal at 8:40 was silent by 8:50. What a river network can see coming, what it cannot, and what warning has to look like when the water outruns the news.
For five years, spring 2019 was the mark every Lake Muskoka decision answered to. In April 2026 the lake went two centimeters higher - and the official books have not caught up yet.
Inside the freshet cycle that puts Manitoba shorelines at risk each year - and why 2026 broke the script.
The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.
What the numbers on the measuring stick actually tell you.
Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.
One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.
How every number is computed - About the platform
