Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Grand Portage River at Grand Portage MN in MN, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Grand Portage River at Grand Portage MN is a gauged river in the Baptism-Brule watershed in Minnesota.
April is the highest month on this station’s record, with a typical level of 16.55 ft (5.04 m). For people watching docks, banks, or an intake, that is the part of the year when the river is usually running higher and needs the most room.
September is the lowest month, with a typical level of 15.73 ft (4.79 m). The seasonal swing is 9.8 in (24.9 cm), which is modest on paper but still enough to matter when water is shallow at the edge or when you are judging access close to shore.
The record high is 18.88 ft (5.75 m), set in April 2023. The record low is 15.66 ft (4.77 m), set in September 2023. Those two marks sit in the same seasonal window as the typical high and low, which tells you the river can still push to its limits inside its usual spring and late-summer pattern.
The station has 35 years on record, so those comparisons rest on a fairly long local history. For a river user, that history is what turns a single reading into something more useful: you can see whether today is near the upper edge, near the lower edge, or close to the middle of what this reach has already shown.
The number on the page should be read against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record, not as a stand-alone elevation. That is the better check because a river can be high for one season and normal for another.
This station is operated by the USGS. The day-by-day median gives a cleaner sense of where the river stands now, especially on a reach with 35 years on record and a seasonal range that is known to move from April into September.
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.
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 22,890 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, the State of Victoria's, the State of South Australia's, the Northern Territory's and the State of Western Australia's water monitoring networks, the French State's hydrometric network (Vigicrues, through Hub'Eau), the German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration's gauges (WSV, through PEGELONLINE), 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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