Minnesota River at Morton Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Minnesota River at Morton in MN, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location MN, United States
- Watershed middle minnesota
- Primary gauge 05316580 (USGS)
About Minnesota River at Morton
The Minnesota River at Morton sits in Minnesota’s Middle Minnesota watershed.
What the record shows
Over more than 26 years of record, the highest level on file is 28.81 ft (8.78 m) in March 2019, and the lowest is 5.59 ft (1.7 m) in October 2012.
The seasonal pattern is clear. The highest typical month is May at 16.78 ft (5.11 m), and the lowest typical month is October at 10.09 ft (3.08 m). That leaves a typical annual swing of 6.7 ft (2.04 m). For people using the river, that is the range a dock, pump intake, or low crossing needs to handle from one part of the year to another.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so I won’t guess at the warning time this river gives during a surge.
The watershed
The station’s drainage area above Morton is 8970 sq mi (23232 km2). That is the land feeding this gauge, not the broader watershed name on the page. In this part of the Upper Midwest, the annual high usually comes with spring snowmelt, with sharp rises on frozen ground, and summer storm rises can still move the river quickly.
Reading the hero number
The number shown on the page is best read against the median for this calendar day, not as a raw elevation on its own. A level can look high or low in isolation and still be normal for the date; the day-of-year comparison tells you whether the river is running above or below its usual pattern for Morton.
This station is operated by the USGS, and the record spans more than 26 years.
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.
Water Stories
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How every number is computed - About the platform
