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Minnesota River at Ortonville

Highest listed crest 13.02 ftFlood stage 10.0 ft80 crests since 1941

The Minnesota River at Ortonville crested above flood stage 20 times among the 80 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1941 to 2025. The highest, 13.02 ft on April 12, 2023, was minor flooding, 3.02 feet above flood stage. 3 other gauges on the Minnesota River crested above flood stage within a week of it.

The gauge

Highest listed crest
13.02 ft
April 12, 2023; 5,870 cubic feet per second
Flood stage
10.0 ft
No major stage set
Crests at major
0
20 above flood stage
Most recent flood crest
June 16, 2025
10.23 ft, minor flooding
Location
Big Stone County
Minnesota

Flood stages

The thresholds the National Weather Service uses for this gauge today, and how many listed crests reached each.

Flood categories, Minnesota River at Ortonville
Action stage9.016Jun 21, 2014The level at which the NWS or its partners begin to take action
Flood stage (minor)10.020Jun 16, 2025Minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat

Every listed crest

80 crests from 1941 to 2025. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.

Listed crests at the Minnesota River at Ortonville, 1941 to 2025 051015ft Flood stage 10.0 ft Jul 28, 1941: 3.27 ft, below flood stage; 108 cubic feet per secondJun 12, 1942: 10.45 ft, minor flooding; 1,200 cubic feet per secondApr 4, 1943: 10.52 ft, minor flooding; 1,480 cubic feet per secondMay 3, 1944: 9.37 ft, action stage; 1,060 cubic feet per secondJun 12, 1945: 8.22 ft, below flood stage; 664 cubic feet per secondApr 1, 1946: 10.21 ft, minor flooding; 1,210 cubic feet per secondApr 16, 1947: 11.00 ft, minor flooding; 1,660 cubic feet per secondApr 8, 1948: 9.13 ft, action stage; 841 cubic feet per secondApr 17, 1949: 6.14 ft, below flood stage; 418 cubic feet per secondMay 5, 1950: 9.02 ft, action stage; 930 cubic feet per secondApr 9, 1951: 9.27 ft, action stage; 956 cubic feet per secondApr 13, 1952: 12.92 ft, minor flooding; 3,060 cubic feet per secondApr 15, 1953: 7.65 ft, below flood stage; 632 cubic feet per secondJun 8, 1954: 9.39 ft, action stage; 905 cubic feet per secondApr 20, 1955: 6.67 ft, below flood stage; 357 cubic feet per secondApr 7, 1956: 5.32 ft, below flood stage; 299 cubic feet per secondMay 22, 1957: 9.70 ft, action stage; 939 cubic feet per secondApr 28, 1958: 9.68 ft, action stage; 932 cubic feet per secondApr 28, 1959: 4.50 ft, below flood stage; 206 cubic feet per secondMar 30, 1960: 8.91 ft, below flood stage; 618 cubic feet per secondApr 16, 1961: 5.27 ft, below flood stage; 230 cubic feet per secondJul 10, 1962: 10.45 ft, minor flooding; 1,400 cubic feet per secondApr 3, 1963: 8.81 ft, below flood stage; 753 cubic feet per secondApr 13, 1964: 9.55 ft, action stage; 956 cubic feet per secondJun 7, 1965: 9.89 ft, action stage; 1,160 cubic feet per secondMar 18, 1966: 9.86 ft, action stage; 1,250 cubic feet per secondApr 17, 1967: 10.04 ft, minor flooding; 898 cubic feet per secondApr 23, 1968: 4.91 ft, below flood stage; 248 cubic feet per secondApr 13, 1969: 12.09 ft, minor flooding; 2,550 cubic feet per secondMay 1, 1970: 5.38 ft, below flood stage; 394 cubic feet per secondJun 30, 1971: 6.81 ft, below flood stage; 596 cubic feet per secondMay 29, 1972: 9.41 ft, action stage; 1,210 cubic feet per secondMay 26, 1973: 7.70 ft, below flood stage; 775 cubic feet per secondApr 14, 1974: 5.96 ft, below flood stage; 388 cubic feet per secondApr 29, 1975: 7.94 ft, below flood stage; 715 cubic feet per secondApr 3, 1976: 6.35 ft, below flood stage; 450 cubic feet per secondMar 14, 1977: 4.53 ft, below flood stage; 292 cubic feet per secondApr 6, 1978: 11.32 ft, minor flooding; 1,960 cubic feet per secondApr 25, 1979: 11.61 ft, minor flooding; 2,260 cubic feet per secondApr 12, 1980: 7.19 ft, below flood stage; 487 cubic feet per secondJun 13, 1981: 1.89 ft, below flood stage; 57 cubic feet per secondApr 20, 1982: 6.87 ft, below flood stage; 424 cubic feet per secondApr 14, 1983: 7.99 ft, below flood stage; 927 cubic feet per secondJun 16, 1984: 10.42 ft, minor flooding; 1,570 cubic feet per secondMar 21, 1985: 8.62 ft, below flood stage; 1,940 cubic feet per secondApr 19, 1986: 9.28 ft, action stage; 2,570 cubic feet per secondOct 3, 1986: 6.22 ft, below flood stage; 501 cubic feet per secondMar 25, 1988: 3.64 ft, below flood stage; 207 cubic feet per secondMar 27, 1989: 10.76 ft, minor flooding; 2,780 cubic feet per secondAug 19, 1990: 4.02 ft, below flood stage; 257 cubic feet per secondJul 2, 1991: 8.95 ft, below flood stage; 1,880 cubic feet per secondJun 18, 1992: 7.93 ft, below flood stage; 1,760 cubic feet per secondJul 28, 1993: 9.99 ft, action stage; 2,950 cubic feet per secondJul 8, 1994: 9.23 ft, action stage; 2,740 cubic feet per secondJul 6, 1995: 9.19 ft, action stage; 2,530 cubic feet per secondMay 19, 1996: 8.63 ft, below flood stage; 2,230 cubic feet per secondApr 10, 1997: 12.85 ft, minor flooding; 5,070 cubic feet per secondApr 8, 1998: 8.03 ft, below flood stage; 1,980 cubic feet per secondMay 17, 1999: 4.59 ft, below flood stage; 671 cubic feet per secondMay 1, 2000: 4.24 ft, below flood stage; 579 cubic feet per secondApr 14, 2001: 12.06 ft, minor flooding; 4,830 cubic feet per secondMar 30, 2002: 7.52 ft, below flood stage; 1,820 cubic feet per secondJun 26, 2003: 5.37 ft, below flood stage; 1,020 cubic feet per secondJun 17, 2004: 3.47 ft, below flood stage; 394 cubic feet per secondJun 15, 2005: 8.76 ft, below flood stage; 2,600 cubic feet per secondMay 2, 2006: 8.28 ft, below flood stage; 2,440 cubic feet per secondMar 13, 2007: 11.48 ft, minor flooding; 4,590 cubic feet per secondMar 20, 2010: 12.84 ft, minor flooding; 5,680 cubic feet per secondApr 9, 2011: 10.28 ft, minor flooding; 3,840 cubic feet per secondApr 18, 2012: 6.54 ft, below flood stage; 1,650 cubic feet per secondApr 29, 2013: 8.45 ft, below flood stage; 2,680 cubic feet per secondJun 21, 2014: 9.56 ft, action stage; 3,360 cubic feet per secondMar 13, 2015: 4.17 ft, below flood stage; 676 cubic feet per secondJul 13, 2016: 5.15 ft, below flood stage; 1,050 cubic feet per secondSep 25, 2017: 8.85 ft, below flood stage; 2,740 cubic feet per secondApr 23, 2018: 8.62 ft, below flood stage; 2,780 cubic feet per secondMar 22, 2019: 11.05 ft, minor flooding; 4,370 cubic feet per secondMar 9, 2020: 7.62 ft, below flood stageApr 12, 2023: 13.02 ft, minor flooding; 5,870 cubic feet per secondJun 16, 2025: 10.23 ft, minor flooding; 3,480 cubic feet per second Highest, 13.02 ft, Apr 12, 2023 1960198020002020

Crests at or above flood stage, by decade

Crests at or above flood stage per decade, Minnesota River at Ortonville 1940s: 4 4 1950s: 1 1960s: 3 1970s: 2 1980s: 2 1990s: 1 2000s: 2 2010s: 3 2020s: 2 1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
  1. These are the crests the local National Weather Service office lists for the gauge: the highest on record and recent crests. Lesser floods between them may be missing, so counts by decade are a floor.
  2. Categories use today's flood stages. Levees, dams and channel changes since a crest can make old and new stages not directly comparable.

Highest crests

The 50 highest of 80 listed crests.

Highest listed crests, Minnesota River at Ortonville
1Apr 12, 202313.02+3.02Minor5,870
2Apr 13, 195212.92+2.92Minor3,060
3Apr 10, 199712.85+2.85Minor5,070
4Mar 20, 201012.84+2.84Minor5,680
5Apr 13, 196912.09+2.09Minor2,550
6Apr 14, 200112.06+2.06Minor4,830
7Apr 25, 197911.61+1.61Minor2,260
8Mar 13, 200711.48+1.48Minor4,590
9Apr 6, 197811.32+1.32Minor1,960
10Mar 22, 201911.05+1.05Minor4,370
11Apr 16, 194711.00+1.00Minor1,660
12Mar 27, 198910.76+0.76Minor2,780
13Apr 4, 194310.52+0.52Minor1,480
14Jun 12, 194210.45+0.45Minor1,200
15Jul 10, 196210.45+0.45Minor1,400
16Jun 16, 198410.42+0.42Minor1,570
17Apr 9, 201110.28+0.28Minor3,840
18Jun 16, 202510.23+0.23Minor3,480
19Apr 1, 194610.21+0.21Minor1,210
20Apr 17, 196710.04+0.04Minor898
21Jul 28, 19939.99−0.01Action2,950
22Jun 7, 19659.89−0.11Action1,160
23Mar 18, 19669.86−0.14Action1,250
24May 22, 19579.70−0.30Action939
25Apr 28, 19589.68−0.32Action932
26Jun 21, 20149.56−0.44Action3,360
27Apr 13, 19649.55−0.45Action956
28May 29, 19729.41−0.59Action1,210
29Jun 8, 19549.39−0.61Action905
30May 3, 19449.37−0.63Action1,060
31Apr 19, 19869.28−0.72Action2,570
32Apr 9, 19519.27−0.73Action956
33Jul 8, 19949.23−0.77Action2,740
34Jul 6, 19959.19−0.81Action2,530
35Apr 8, 19489.13−0.87Action841
36May 5, 19509.02−0.98Action930
37Jul 2, 19918.95−1.05Below flood stage1,880
38Mar 30, 19608.91−1.09Below flood stage618
39Sep 25, 20178.85−1.15Below flood stage2,740
40Apr 3, 19638.81−1.19Below flood stage753
41Jun 15, 20058.76−1.24Below flood stage2,600
42May 19, 19968.63−1.37Below flood stage2,230
43Mar 21, 19858.62−1.38Below flood stage1,940
44Apr 23, 20188.62−1.38Below flood stage2,780
45Apr 29, 20138.45−1.55Below flood stage2,680
46May 2, 20068.28−1.72Below flood stage2,440
47Jun 12, 19458.22−1.78Below flood stage664
48Apr 8, 19988.03−1.97Below flood stage1,980
49Apr 14, 19837.99−2.01Below flood stage927
50Apr 29, 19757.94−2.06Below flood stage715

The worst floods along the Minnesota River

For this gauge's highest crests, the other gauges on the Minnesota River that crested above flood stage within a week.

April 12, 2023: 13.02 ft here, minor flooding

April 13, 1952: 12.92 ft here, minor flooding

  • Granite FallsMN · Apr 10, 1952 · 894.64 ft · Major
  • SavageMN · Apr 16, 1952 · 714.20 ft · Major
  • MontevideoMN · Apr 10, 1952 · 20.02 ft · Major
  • MankatoMN · Apr 14, 1952 · 24.62 ft · Minor

April 10, 1997: 12.85 ft here, minor flooding

  • Big Stone LakeSD · Apr 7, 1997 · 973.90 ft · Major · its highest
  • Granite FallsMN · Apr 7, 1997 · 899.84 ft · Major · its highest
  • New UlmMN · Apr 9, 1997 · 811.03 ft · Major · its highest
  • SavageMN · Apr 13, 1997 · 715.20 ft · Major
  • MontevideoMN · Apr 6, 1997 · 23.90 ft · Major · its highest
  • HendersonMN · Apr 11, 1997 · 737.90 ft · Moderate
  • JordanMN · Apr 12, 1997 · 32.24 ft · Moderate
  • MankatoMN · Apr 10, 1997 · 27.61 ft · Moderate

Gauges on the Minnesota River

Flood gauges sharing the river's name, linked within 80 miles of one another.

Flood gauges on the Minnesota River
Big Stone LakeSD970.0973.90 ft, Apr 7, 19971
Granite FallsMN885.0899.84 ft, Apr 7, 199711
HendersonMN732.0741.77 ft, Jun 26, 20245
JordanMN25.035.12 ft, Jun 28, 20242
MankatoMN22.030.11 ft, Jun 21, 19931
MontevideoMN14.023.90 ft, Apr 6, 199711
New UlmMN800.0811.03 ft, Apr 9, 19976
Ortonville this gaugeMN10.013.02 ft, Apr 12, 20230
SavageMN702.0719.40 ft, Apr 15, 196510
MortonMN21.029.25 ft, Apr 15, 20018

Big Stone County: every hazard · River floods across the country · Minnesota

NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge ORTM5, retrieved October 30, 2026. Stages in feet on the gauge's own datum, not elevation. Crests are as the National Weather Service lists them; preliminary values may be revised.