Yellowstone River NO. 3 near Buford Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Yellowstone River NO. 3 near Buford in ND, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location ND, United States
- Watershed lower yellowstone
- Primary gauge 06329620 (USGS)
About Yellowstone River NO. 3 near Buford
Yellowstone River NO. 3 near Buford is a gauged river in the Lower Yellowstone watershed, North Dakota.
The watershed
This station drains 70,000 sq mi (181,299 km2) upstream of the gauge. In northern-prairie country, the seasonal pattern matters more than the day-to-day wiggles: spring is when water usually builds, and the low-water season comes later in the year. For people living or working near the river, that means the reach can stay high long enough to matter for access, field edges, and shorelines.
What the numbers say
The record high here is 27.46 ft (8.37 m), set in June 2011. The record low is 6.86 ft (2.09 m), set in October 2001. The typical high month is June at 16.78 ft (5.12 m), while the typical low month is August at 10.22 ft (3.11 m). That works out to a typical annual swing of 6.6 ft (2 m).
Those figures give a useful frame for docks, pumps, and shallow crossings. June is the month to watch for higher water. By late summer, the river is usually lower, but not still. The spread between the typical high and low months is enough to change how much bank is exposed and how much clearance a landing or intake has.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is the river’s current reading, set beside the median for the same calendar day across the station’s record. That comparison is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether today is typical for this date, not just how high the water sits on an absolute scale.
This station has 50 years on record, so the day-of-year median reflects a long local history at a USGS gauge. For cottagers, anglers, and anyone watching access or bank conditions, that is the number that shows whether the river is running near its usual seasonal level or outside it.
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
