WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Missouri River above Stanton in ND, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Missouri River above Stanton is a gauged river in the Painted Woods-Square Butte watershed, North Dakota.
This station drains 181,400 sq mi (469824 km2) upstream of the gauge, so changes here reflect a large reach and not just the banks near Stanton. The seasonal pattern is not a simple spring peak. The highest typical month is January at 66.79 ft (20.36 m), while the lowest typical month is October at 64.2 ft (19.57 m). For a dock, intake, or landing, that means the river can stay within a fairly tight band for much of the year, but the timing of the yearly high is not where many people expect it.
The typical annual swing is 31.1 in (79.1 cm). That is enough to matter for shallow ramps and exposed bank edges, but it is still modest compared with the largest swings this river has shown.
The record high is 76.65 ft (23.36 m), set in June 2011. The record low is 60.65 ft (18.49 m), set in January 2025. With 50 years on record, those two marks show the range this reach can reach over a long operating history.
For anyone farming low ground or watching for access problems, the main point is that this river has shown both prolonged high water and a very low winter reading in the same station record. The record values give a clearer sense of risk than any single day’s level, because they show the edge of what has already happened here.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because river level only makes sense against the usual level for the same date.
This reading comes from the USGS, the agency operating this station. With 50 years on record, that daily comparison is grounded in a long local history, not just a single snapshot.
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 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.
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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