Forest River at Minto Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Forest River at Minto in ND, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location ND, United States
- Watershed forest
- Primary gauge 05085000 (USGS)
About Forest River at Minto
The Forest River in the Forest watershed in North Dakota is measured at Minto.
What the record shows
Over more than 50 years of record, this station has seen a high water mark of 8.88 ft (2.71 m) in March 2004 and a low of 1.02 ft (0.31 m) in March 2007. Those are the two ends of the range that matter most if you keep a dock, pump, or crossing close to the waterline.
The seasonal pattern is fairly tight. The typical high month is April at 2.09 ft (0.64 m), while the typical low month is January at 1.33 ft (0.41 m). The typical annual swing is 9.1 in (23.2 cm). For anyone using the river, that is a modest normal change, but the record range shows the station can move well outside that pattern.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so there is no short-term rise threshold to quote for this site.
The watershed
The station drains 499 sq mi (1,292 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the catchment this reading reflects, not the full watershed name on a map.
In northern-prairie country, spring snowmelt floods on frozen ground are the season to watch, and broad, flat drainage can keep high water around for weeks. For the Forest, that means spring levels deserve more attention than a single day’s reading, especially where access roads, culverts, and low banks are close to the channel.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for this calendar day, not just the raw elevation. A river can sit at the same feet value on two different dates and mean very different things if one is near its normal seasonal low and the other is near its seasonal rise.
That comparison comes from USGS records at this station and is useful because it places today’s reading in context for this reach of the Forest. With about 50 years on record, the station gives a solid sense of what is ordinary here, and what is out of pattern.
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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How every number is computed - About the platform
