2025-12-20T00:00:00-07:00
...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY... Strong northwest winds will spread across the northeast plains after sunrise today, with gusts 45 to 65 mph creating critical fire weather conditions despite somewhat marginal humidity values near 20%. Early Friday, westerly downslope winds will bring strong gusts to the Front Range mountains and foothills, with potential for these to spread into wind-favored portions of the adjacent lower elevations. Peak gusts of 70-90 mph are increasing in likelihood for the windiest locations (considerably lower for areas along and east of I-25). With a warmer and drier air mass in place, humidity values in the teens look to extend into much of the foothills, and certainly across the lower elevations. Such conditions may be a longer duration than usual, with potential for low humidity to extend into the evening hours prior to the arrival of a front. The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a Fire Weather Watch for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect from Friday morning through Friday evening. * AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zones 215, 216, 241, 243, 245, 246 and 247. * TIMING...From Friday morning through late Friday evening. * WINDS...West 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 80 mph in and near the foothills. West 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph for areas roughly along and east of I-25. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 10 to 15%. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a spark and start a wildfire.
Summary
Total streamflow across the
Minnesota River
was last observed at
4,839
cfs, and is expected to yield approximately
9,598
acre-ft of water today; about 73%
of normal.
Average streamflow for this time of year is
6,657 cfs,
with recent peaks last observed
on
2014-06-24 when daily discharge volume was observed at
261,350 cfs.
Maximum discharge along the river is currently at the
Minnesota River At Fort Snelling State Park
reporting a streamflow rate of 6,620 cfs.
However, the streamgauge with the highest stage along the river is the
Minnesota River At New Ulm
with a gauge stage of 787.97 ft.
This river is monitored from 8 different streamgauging stations along the Minnesota River, the highest being situated at an altitude of 972 ft, the
Minnesota River At Ortonville.
River Details
| Last Updated | 2025-12-18 |
| Discharge Volume | 9,598 ACRE-FT |
| Streamflow |
4,839.0 cfs
-73.0 cfs (-1.49%) |
| Percent of Normal | 72.69% |
| Maximum |
261,350.0 cfs
2014-06-24 |
| Seasonal Avg | 6,657 cfs |
River Streamflow Levels
| Streamgauge | Streamflow | Gauge Stage | 24hr Change (%) | % Normal | Minimum (cfs) | Maximum (cfs) | Air Temp | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Minnesota River At Ortonville
USGS 05292000 |
119 cfs | 2.24 ft | -2.46 | |||||
|
Minnesota River At Montevideo
USGS 05311000 |
1810 cfs | 7.23 ft | 6.47 | |||||
|
Minnesota River Near Lac Qui Parle
USGS 05301000 |
1380 cfs | 25.38 ft | 0 | |||||
|
Minnesota River At Morton
USGS 05316580 |
1750 cfs | 13.73 ft | -17.84 | |||||
|
Minnesota River At New Ulm
USGS 05316770 |
1130 cfs | 787.97 ft | -13.08 | |||||
|
Minnesota River At Mankato
USGS 05325000 |
3340 cfs | 5.24 ft | -2.05 | |||||
|
Minnesota River Near Jordan
USGS 05330000 |
2960 cfs | 7.42 ft | -4.52 | |||||
|
Minnesota River At Fort Snelling State Park
USGS 05330920 |
6620 cfs | 688.05 ft |
Seasonal Discharge Comparison
Maximum Streamflow Discharge
Streamflow Elevation Profile
The Minnesota River (Dakota: Mnisóta Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly 17,000 square miles (44,000 km2), 14,751 square miles (38,200 km2) in Minnesota and about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) in South Dakota and Iowa.
It rises in southwestern Minnesota, in Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota–South Dakota border just south of the Laurentian Divide at the Traverse Gap portage. It flows southeast to Mankato, then turns northeast. It joins the Mississippi south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, near the historic Fort Snelling. The valley is one of several distinct regions of Minnesota. The name Minnesota comes from the Dakota language phrase, "Mnisota Makoce" which is translated to "land where the waters reflect the sky", as a reference to the many lakes in Minnesota rather than the cloudiness of the actual river. For over a century prior to the organization of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the name St. Pierre (St. Peter) had been generally applied to the river by French and English explorers and writers. Minnesota River is shown on the 1757 edition of Mitchell Map as "Ouadebameniſsouté [Watpá Mnísota] or R. St. Peter". On June 19, 1852, acting upon a request from the Minnesota territorial legislature, the United States Congress decreed the aboriginal name for the river, Minnesota, to be the river’s official name and ordered all agencies of the federal government to use that name when referencing it.The valley that the Minnesota River flows in is up to five miles (8 km) wide and 250 feet (80 m) deep. It was carved into the landscape by the massive glacial River Warren between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago at the end of the last ice age in North America. Pierre-Charles Le Sueur was the first European known to have traveled along the river. The Minnesota Territory, and later the state, were named for the river.