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Milk River at Havre

Highest listed crest 15.30 ftFlood stage 10.0 ft60 crests since 1913

The Milk River at Havre crested above flood stage 9 times among the 60 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1913 to 2018. The highest, 15.30 ft on March 31, 1978, was moderate flooding, 5.30 feet above flood stage. 5 other gauges on the Milk River crested above flood stage within a week of it.

The gauge

Highest listed crest
15.30 ft
March 31, 1978; 7,840 cubic feet per second
Flood stage
10.0 ft
Major flooding from 18.0 ft
Crests at major
0
9 above flood stage
Most recent flood crest
April 19, 2018
14.14 ft, minor flooding
Location
Hill County
Montana

Flood stages

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

Flood categories, Milk River at Havre
Action stage9.010Jun 13, 2011The level at which the NWS or its partners begin to take action
Flood stage (minor)10.08Apr 19, 2018Minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat
Moderate flood stage15.01Mar 31, 1978Some inundation of structures and roads near the stream
Major flood stage18.00—Extensive inundation of structures and roads

Every listed crest

60 crests from 1913 to 2018. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.

Listed crests at the Milk River at Havre, 1913 to 2018 05101520ft Flood stage 10.0 ftMajor 18.0 ft Apr 15, 1913: 9.70 ft, action stage; 2,540 cubic feet per secondMar 14, 1914: 8.00 ft, below flood stage; 1,080 cubic feet per secondMar 24, 1915: 10.80 ft, minor flooding; 3,640 cubic feet per secondMay 13, 1919: 7.60 ft, below flood stage; 686 cubic feet per secondApr 22, 1920: 11.20 ft, minor flooding; 4,090 cubic feet per secondJul 19, 1956: 9.56 ft, action stage; 1,280 cubic feet per secondJul 26, 1957: 9.81 ft, action stage; 1,280 cubic feet per secondMay 21, 1958: 9.84 ft, action stage; 1,410 cubic feet per secondJul 18, 1960: 9.98 ft, action stage; 1,630 cubic feet per secondJul 15, 1961: 9.53 ft, action stage; 1,280 cubic feet per secondJul 5, 1962: 9.15 ft, action stage; 1,180 cubic feet per secondJun 4, 1963: 8.79 ft, below flood stage; 1,010 cubic feet per secondMay 27, 1964: 9.40 ft, action stage; 1,340 cubic feet per secondJul 17, 1968: 8.17 ft, below flood stage; 1,460 cubic feet per secondJun 7, 1970: 8.60 ft, below flood stage; 1,400 cubic feet per secondJun 18, 1972: 8.58 ft, below flood stage; 1,710 cubic feet per secondJul 21, 1974: 8.00 ft, below flood stage; 1,580 cubic feet per secondJun 25, 1975: 11.85 ft, minor flooding; 3,680 cubic feet per secondMay 10, 1976: 7.90 ft, below flood stage; 1,340 cubic feet per secondJul 1, 1977: 7.36 ft, below flood stage; 1,220 cubic feet per secondMar 31, 1978: 15.30 ft, moderate flooding; 7,840 cubic feet per secondMar 15, 1979: 12.77 ft, minor floodingMay 16, 1980: 8.89 ft, below flood stage; 1,570 cubic feet per secondJun 11, 1981: 5.94 ft, below flood stage; 1,490 cubic feet per secondJun 6, 1982: 6.51 ft, below flood stage; 1,640 cubic feet per secondAug 4, 1983: 5.74 ft, below flood stage; 1,230 cubic feet per secondMay 25, 1984: 6.19 ft, below flood stage; 1,280 cubic feet per secondMay 23, 1985: 6.44 ft, below flood stage; 1,340 cubic feet per secondMay 25, 1986: 6.30 ft, below flood stage; 1,510 cubic feet per secondJun 20, 1987: 5.77 ft, below flood stage; 1,550 cubic feet per secondMay 19, 1988: 6.41 ft, below flood stage; 1,520 cubic feet per secondJul 14, 1989: 6.18 ft, below flood stage; 1,590 cubic feet per secondJun 5, 1990: 6.68 ft, below flood stage; 1,850 cubic feet per secondJun 27, 1991: 6.33 ft, below flood stage; 1,800 cubic feet per secondMay 8, 1992: 6.01 ft, below flood stage; 1,670 cubic feet per secondMar 9, 1993: 7.27 ft, below flood stageJul 20, 1993: 5.98 ft, below flood stage; 1,650 cubic feet per secondMar 7, 1994: 12.04 ft, minor flooding; 7,600 cubic feet per secondJun 6, 1995: 5.62 ft, below flood stage; 1,780 cubic feet per secondMar 12, 1996: 12.98 ft, minor floodingMar 16, 1996: 10.23 ft, minor flooding; 5,360 cubic feet per secondMar 27, 1997: 5.68 ft, below flood stage; 1,680 cubic feet per secondJul 23, 1998: 4.73 ft, below flood stage; 1,350 cubic feet per secondJul 28, 1999: 4.47 ft, below flood stage; 1,270 cubic feet per secondMay 27, 2000: 4.39 ft, below flood stage; 1,270 cubic feet per secondMay 31, 2001: 4.80 ft, below flood stage; 1,280 cubic feet per secondJun 19, 2002: 6.59 ft, below flood stage; 2,290 cubic feet per secondMay 31, 2003: 4.75 ft, below flood stage; 1,250 cubic feet per secondMay 7, 2004: 4.85 ft, below flood stage; 1,300 cubic feet per secondAug 4, 2005: 4.78 ft, below flood stage; 1,260 cubic feet per secondJul 16, 2006: 5.03 ft, below flood stage; 1,270 cubic feet per secondJul 21, 2007: 4.24 ft, below flood stage; 962 cubic feet per secondJul 18, 2008: 4.43 ft, below flood stage; 1,070 cubic feet per secondMar 23, 2009: 5.76 ft, below flood stageJul 22, 2009: 4.75 ft, below flood stage; 1,230 cubic feet per secondJun 23, 2010: 9.61 ft, action stage; 4,830 cubic feet per secondJun 13, 2011: 9.06 ft, action stage; 4,600 cubic feet per secondNov 19, 2011: 6.99 ft, below flood stageJul 15, 2012: 4.55 ft, below flood stage; 1,370 cubic feet per secondApr 19, 2018: 14.14 ft, minor flooding; 8,237 cubic feet per second Highest, 15.30 ft, Mar 31, 1978 19201940196019802000

Crests at or above flood stage, by decade

Crests at or above flood stage per decade, Milk River at Havre 1910s: 1 1920s: 1 1930s: 0 1940s: 0 1950s: 0 1960s: 0 1970s: 3 3 1980s: 0 1990s: 3 2000s: 0 2010s: 1 1910s1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s
  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.
  3. 15 crests measured on an earlier gauge datum are left out: 19.30 ft on Apr 12, 1899; 10.30 ft on Sep 7, 1911; 14.50 ft on Mar 29, 1912; 17.20 ft on Mar 12, 1916; 15.30 ft on Apr 11, 1917; 16.42 ft on Mar 20, 1918; and more.

Highest crests

The 50 highest of 60 listed crests.

Highest listed crests, Milk River at Havre
1Mar 31, 197815.30+5.30Moderate7,840
2Apr 19, 201814.14+4.14Minor8,237
3Mar 12, 199612.98+2.98Minor—
4Mar 15, 197912.77+2.77Minor—
5Mar 7, 199412.04+2.04Minor7,600
6Jun 25, 197511.85+1.85Minor3,680
7Apr 22, 192011.20+1.20Minor4,090
8Mar 24, 191510.80+0.80Minor3,640
9Mar 16, 199610.23+0.23Minor5,360
10Jul 18, 19609.98−0.02Action1,630
11May 21, 19589.84−0.16Action1,410
12Jul 26, 19579.81−0.19Action1,280
13Apr 15, 19139.70−0.30Action2,540
14Jun 23, 20109.61−0.39Action4,830
15Jul 19, 19569.56−0.44Action1,280
16Jul 15, 19619.53−0.47Action1,280
17May 27, 19649.40−0.60Action1,340
18Jul 5, 19629.15−0.85Action1,180
19Jun 13, 20119.06−0.94Action4,600
20May 16, 19808.89−1.11Below flood stage1,570
21Jun 4, 19638.79−1.21Below flood stage1,010
22Jun 7, 19708.60−1.40Below flood stage1,400
23Jun 18, 19728.58−1.42Below flood stage1,710
24Jul 17, 19688.17−1.83Below flood stage1,460
25Mar 14, 19148.00−2.00Below flood stage1,080
26Jul 21, 19748.00−2.00Below flood stage1,580
27May 10, 19767.90−2.10Below flood stage1,340
28May 13, 19197.60−2.40Below flood stage686
29Jul 1, 19777.36−2.64Below flood stage1,220
30Mar 9, 19937.27−2.73Below flood stage—
31Nov 19, 20116.99−3.01Below flood stage—
32Jun 5, 19906.68−3.32Below flood stage1,850
33Jun 19, 20026.59−3.41Below flood stage2,290
34Jun 6, 19826.51−3.49Below flood stage1,640
35May 23, 19856.44−3.56Below flood stage1,340
36May 19, 19886.41−3.59Below flood stage1,520
37Jun 27, 19916.33−3.67Below flood stage1,800
38May 25, 19866.30−3.70Below flood stage1,510
39May 25, 19846.19−3.81Below flood stage1,280
40Jul 14, 19896.18−3.82Below flood stage1,590
41May 8, 19926.01−3.99Below flood stage1,670
42Jul 20, 19935.98−4.02Below flood stage1,650
43Jun 11, 19815.94−4.06Below flood stage1,490
44Jun 20, 19875.77−4.23Below flood stage1,550
45Mar 23, 20095.76−4.24Below flood stage—
46Aug 4, 19835.74−4.26Below flood stage1,230
47Mar 27, 19975.68−4.32Below flood stage1,680
48Jun 6, 19955.62−4.38Below flood stage1,780
49Jul 16, 20065.03−4.97Below flood stage1,270
50May 7, 20044.85−5.15Below flood stage1,300

The worst floods along the Milk River

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

March 31, 1978: 15.30 ft here, moderate flooding

  • SacoMT · Apr 3, 1978 · 24.20 ft · Major
  • NashuaMT · Apr 5, 1978 · 28.93 ft · Moderate
  • HarlemMT · Mar 28, 1978 · 24.08 ft · Moderate
  • MaltaMT · Apr 3, 1978 · 19.74 ft · Moderate
  • Eastern Crossing nr RudyardMT · Mar 27, 1978 · 9.61 ft · Minor

April 19, 2018: 14.14 ft here, minor flooding

  • SacoMT · Apr 23, 2018 · 24.22 ft · Major
  • DodsonMT · Apr 23, 2018 · 28.14 ft · Moderate
  • TampicoMT · Apr 25, 2018 · 26.98 ft · Moderate
  • HarlemMT · Apr 22, 2018 · 24.46 ft · Moderate
  • MaltaMT · Apr 26, 2018 · 18.13 ft · Minor

March 12, 1996: 12.98 ft here, minor flooding

  • HarlemMT · Mar 18, 1996 · 23.88 ft · Moderate
  • SacoMT · Mar 18, 1996 · 22.95 ft · Moderate
  • DodsonMT · Mar 14, 1996 · 24.51 ft · Minor

Gauges on the Milk River

In USGS station-number order, which runs downstream within a river basin.

Flood gauges on the Milk River
Eastern Crossing nr RudyardMT9.513.65 ft, Mar 28, 19521
Havre this gaugeMT10.015.30 ft, Mar 31, 19780
HarlemMT21.025.73 ft, Sep 29, 19862
DodsonMT23.029.79 ft, Sep 26, 19860
MaltaMT16.023.67 ft, Sep 27, 19861
SacoMT20.026.70 ft, Mar 4, 19867
TampicoMT23.028.03 ft, Apr 15, 20115
GlasgowMT25.034.08 ft, Jun 8, 20117
NashuaMT20.031.38 ft, Apr 18, 19523

Other gauges in Hill County

Flood gauges in Hill County
Havre8.515.15 ft, Mar 30, 19784
McRae Creek at International Boundary7.016.36 ft, Sep 25, 19863
Eastern Crossing nr Rudyard9.513.65 ft, Mar 28, 19521

Hill County: every hazard · River floods across the country · Montana

NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge HVRM8, 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.