USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 06214500

Click to hide Water-Year Summary instructions and information

Water-Year Summary reports summarize a year of hydrologic data in a printer-friendly format.
For water years 2014 onward, choose a water year and parameter and an on-demand Water-Year Summary report will be generated.
For water years 2006 through 2013, choose a water year and an Annual Water Data Report will be provided.
For water years 2005 and earlier, Annual Water Data Reports may be available in digital format.
Not all sites have reports available for every water year.

	Available Parameters
	00010 Temperature, water(Mean,Max.,Min.)
	00060 Discharge(Mean)

Select a water year

Water year 2024: 2024-10-01 to 2025-09-30

Print this page

USGS Water-Year Summary 2024

06214500 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT BILLINGS, MT

LOCATION - Lat 45°48'00.43", long 108°28'04.91" referenced to North American Datum of 1983, in SE 1/4 SE 1/4 SE 1/4 sec.27, T.1 N., R.26 E., Yellowstone County, MT, Hydrologic Unit 10070004, on right bank 0.3 mi downstream from bridge on U.S. Highway 87, 1 mi northeast of Billings, 10 mi upstream from Pryor Creek, and at river mile 360.3.

DRAINAGE AREA - 11,807 mi² of which 393 mi² probably is noncontributing.

REVISIONS HISTORY - Water Data Report (WDR) MT 1968: 1967, maximum discharge. WSP 1729: Drainage area. WDR-MT-2003-2: Drainage area.

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - May 1904 to December 1905 (gage heights only January to March, December 1905), August 1928 to current year. Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in Water Supply Paper (WSP) 1309. Published as "near Billings" 1904-5.

GAGE - Water-stage recorder. Elevation of gage is 3,080 ft, referenced to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. May 1904 to December 1905, nonrecording gage at bridge 0.3 ft upstream at different elevation. Aug. 24, 1928, to June 30, 1932, nonrecording gage at bridge 0.3 mi upstream at elevation 2.0 ft higher. July 1, 1932, to Oct. 12, 1937, water-stage recorder at old diversion dam 3.3 mi upstream at different elevation. Oct. 13, 1937, to Jan. 9, 1963 and Dec. 2, 1967 to Sept. 12, 1990, water-stage recorder 0.3 mi upstream at elevation 3,081.36 ft. Jan. 10, 1963 to Dec. 2, 1967, water-stage recorder 2.1 mi upstream at elevation 3,069.9 ft.

REMARKS - Diversions for irrigation occur upstream from the station.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Water Temperature: Water Year 2018 to current year.

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - WATER TEMPERATURE: September 2018 to current year.

INSTRUMENTATION - A 100 ft Met One temperature probe S/N H10061 was installed on September 28, 2018 and attached via flexible conduit to the orifice pipe adjacent to the gage on right bank. It was used until March 5, 2020 when a new 100 ft FTS DigiTemp SDI-12 probe S/N 114931 was installed. Values are recorded in 15 minute intervals and transmitted hourly via a Design Analysis H-522 data collection platform.

REMARKS -

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - WATER TEMPERATURE: Maximum, 26.3 °C, July 21, 2021; minimum, -0.1 °C, Nov. 11, 2019.