Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT water level

Name: Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT water level (U.S. Geological Survey)
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
License: https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits

River gauge, Prickly Pear Creek, Montana, United States

Directions

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.60ft Steady over the last 24 hours

Measured Oct 20, 2026, 10:30 AM MDT (30 min ago)

Flow: 22.8 cfs

History

7 days

Water level

What this means

Low water at Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT: the gauge reads 0.60 ft, below normal for mid-October.

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. The 30-day range is 0.56 ft – 0.65 ft.

Fall is often low-water season on rivers, and it usually takes a few days of steady rain to change that.

Compared with 5 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Highest on record: 8.82 ftMay 22, 1981

Paddling and fishing conditions

At low levels, plan for shorter paddling trips and expect to walk your boat through a few shoals.

What happens at each level

3.90 ft: At 3.9 Feet, water is well out of its bank north of York Road. Most flooding in the ag fields next too the creek. From a combination of rain/snow melt.
3.50 ft: At 3.5 feet, the creek is out of its banks around the York Road crossing. Combination of rain and high snow melt from the Elkhorns. June 2023.
2.80 ft: At 2.8 feet the creek starts to come out of its bank near the York Road bridge crossing, just north of Chadwick Nursery. Starts flooding ag land in that region. All from snow melt.
0.60 ft: Right now

Impact statements from the U.S. National Weather Service.

Highest crests on record

Rank	Level	Date
1	8.82 ft	May 22, 1981
2	6.56 ft	June 19, 1975
3	6.35 ft	June 5, 1948
4	6.01 ft	June 9, 1964
5	5.38 ft	February 8, 1996
6	5.37 ft	June 7, 2011
7	5.12 ft	February 5, 1963
8	4.98 ft	June 4, 1953
9	4.92 ft	June 10, 1968
10	4.69 ft	June 26, 1965

Weather at the gauge

No rain in the last 3 days.

20 Tue 59° 43° – Wind 8 mph

21 Wed 69° 40° – Wind 14 mph

22 Thu 71° 44° – Wind 6 mph

23 Fri 55° 37° 0.66 in, 92% Wind 11 mph

24 Sat 48° 30° 0.02 in, 63% Wind 8 mph

25 Sun 41° 26° – Wind 7 mph

26 Mon 41° 24° – Wind 6 mph

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:53 AM Sunset 06:34 PM Daylight 10 hr, 41 min Waxing gibbous 70%

Map

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Helena Valley ReservoirReservoir	3,817.67 ft	Very high		9 mi
Tenmile Creek near Helena MTRiver gauge, Tenmile Creek	2.46 ft	Below flood stage	−0.01 ft	9 mi
Canyon Ferry Lake Dam Powerplant and Helena Valley Pumping PlantReservoir	3,784.55 ft	Normal		14 mi
Tenmile Creek near Rimini MTRiver gauge, Tenmile Creek	3.9 cfs	Normal	±0	15 mi
Missouri River below Hauser Dam near Helena MTRiver gauge, Missouri River	2,810 cfs	Low	−190.0 cfs	17 mi
Boulder River near BoulderRiver gauge, Boulder River	35.9 cfs	Normal	+0.9 cfs	22 mi
Missouri River below Holter Dam near Wolf Cr MTRiver gauge, Missouri River	2,920 cfs	Very low	−80.0 cfs	33 mi
Little Prickly Pear Cr at Wolf Cr MTRiver gauge, Little Prickly Pear Cr	50.4 cfs	Normal	±0	34 mi

Questions and answers

Is gage height the same as water depth?

No. Gage height is measured from a fixed reference point chosen by the agency, so a reading of 10 ft does not mean the river is 10 ft deep.

What is the water level of Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT today?

On Oct 20, 2026, 10:30 AM MDT, the water level was 0.60 ft. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT normal?

Low for mid-October. Compared with 5 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT?

The highest level on record is 8.82 ft on May 22, 1981.

How often is this data updated?

The U.S. Geological Survey publishes a new reading every 15 minutes. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.

Where does this data come from?

The values come directly from the U.S. Geological Survey, the official operator of this gauge, and are in the public domain. We do not estimate or model live values.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: U.S. Geological Survey
Station code: usgs:06061500 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 46.51910, -111.94679 (WGS84)
Vertical datum: NAVD88
Update interval: every 15 minutes
Licence: Public domain. Data: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), provisional data subject to revision

Published series

Parameter	Last value	Time (UTC)	Quality
Water level	0.60 ft	2026-10-20 16:30	Provisional
Flow	22.8 cfs	2026-10-20 16:30	Provisional

Download

Embed this gauge

Add a live card for this gauge to your website. It updates on its own and links back here.

<iframe src="https://nivelmap.com/embed/9456?lang=en" width="360" height="230" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT water level"></iframe>

How to cite

U.S. Geological Survey: Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy MT (usgs:06061500). Accessed October 20, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-states/montana/prickly-pear-creek-near-clancy-mt

How we check values

Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.

Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer