Missouri River at Napoleon Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Missouri River at Napoleon in MO, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location MO, United States
- Watershed lower missouri crooked
- Primary gauge 06894650 (USGS)
About Missouri River at Napoleon
The watershed
The Missouri River at Napoleon sits in the Lower Missouri-Crooked watershed in Missouri.
This gauge watches a large upstream area: 485100 sq mi (1256403 km2) above the station. For people along the river, that scale matters because water arriving here reflects what has fallen and moved through a wide basin, not just the immediate bank.
What the numbers say
The record high is 29.5 ft (8.99 m), set in June 2019. The record low is -2.01 ft (-0.61 m), set in January 2024. Those two marks show the range this reach can cover.
The seasonal pattern is clear. June is the typical high month at 13.69 ft (4.17 m), while January is the typical low month at 5.57 ft (1.7 m). The typical annual swing is 8.1 ft (2.47 m). That is the space a dock, ramp, intake, or low bank has to live with from one part of the year to another.
The local hydrology note fits that pattern: rainfall-driven flooding can happen in any season, with the fastest rise usually in spring. On this river, that means a wet stretch upstream can tighten the margin quickly, even when the calendar does not suggest it.
Reading the hero number
The number on the page is most useful when set beside the median for this calendar day, not by itself. A raw stage reading can look ordinary or alarming without that comparison, while the day-of-year median shows whether the river is running above, near, or below its usual level for right now.
This station is operated by the USGS, and it has more than 17 years of record behind it. That length of record makes the comparison steadier, because the median draws on the station’s own history rather than a single past flood or a single dry spell.
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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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
