Missouri River level at Craig
Montana · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 06066500 — Missouri River bl Holter Dam nr Wolf Cr MT · NWS forecast point HTRM8
Reading taken · as of 43 min ago
Below normal — good wading, low and clear
At 3,250 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest quarter of the 80 years USGS has recorded for this date (1946–2026), at 80% of the 4,050 CFS median.
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Flow history at Craig
Daily values from USGS 06066500, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for HTRM8 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Craig
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 11.70 ft | 34,800 CFS | Jun 8, 1948 |
| 10.04 ft | 27,100 CFS | Jun 19, 1964 |
| 9.75 ft | 27,200 CFS | Jun 12, 1947 |
| 9.48 ft | 25,500 CFS | Jun 2, 1956 |
| 9.46 ft | 25,300 CFS | Jun 13, 1981 |
| 9.35 ft | 23,500 CFS | Jun 14, 1997 |
| 9.13 ft | 23,300 CFS | Jul 6, 1975 |
| 9.07 ft | 23,200 CFS | Jul 2, 2011 |
| 8.90 ft | 23,700 CFS | Jun 9, 1952 |
| 8.72 ft | 22,300 CFS | Jun 26, 1984 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About Missouri River at Craig
The station behind this page is not at Craig. USGS publishes it as Missouri River below Holter Dam near Wolf Creek, the standard reference gauge for the tailwater that the Craig fishery sits on, and everything on this page is that station's record.
It drains 16,924 square miles, which is an enormous basin for a river this steady. The published monthly medians run from 4,050 CFS in September to 6,760 in June, a swing of less than two to one across the whole year, because Holter is holding the shape of the hydrograph rather than the weather. The unregulated extremes are still in the record: 34,000 CFS on 8 June 1948, and 747 CFS on 27 May 1962.
Missouri River at Craig — common questions
5 questions
Why does this gauge barely change with the seasons?
Because it sits immediately below Holter Dam. On a free-flowing river draining 16,924 square miles you would expect spring runoff to move the number by an order of magnitude. Here the monthly medians stay between roughly 4,050 and 6,760 CFS all year. What moves this gauge day to day is the release schedule, not the snowpack.
How far back does the record go?
The daily series starts on 1 October 1945 and USGS publishes daily statistics covering 1946 to 2026, so the seasonal comparison above is drawn from about 81 years. The highest daily mean in that series is 34,000 CFS, set on 8 June 1948, and the lowest is 747 CFS on 27 May 1962.
What makes the flow change on Missouri River at Craig?
Rain upstream, plus seasonal baseflow. The 12-month chart shows how it behaves through the year.
Is Missouri River at Craig high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 4,050 CFS, from 80 years of record (1946–2026). Today sits in the lowest quarter of those years, at 80% of the median. The comparison is what makes the raw number mean anything: the same reading is a drought on one river and a flood on another.
How often does this reading update?
USGS transmits from gauge 06066500 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for HTRM8 a few times a day — more often when the river is rising. This page refreshes from both when you open it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.