About this river
South Branch Buffalo River is a 12.4 mile river near River Keepers in North Dakota. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge South Branch Buffalo River at Sabin, MN (site 05061500). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 5. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1945 to 2026
South Branch Buffalo River typically runs highest in April, at a median 126 cfs, and lowest in January, at 3.0 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 8,200 cfs, in 1975.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.0 | 0.3 to 12 | |
| February | 3.2 | 0.0 to 13 | |
| March | 20 | 2.1 to 83 | |
| April | 126 | 60 to 389 | |
| May | 60 | 30 to 136 | |
| June | 38 | 12 to 102 | |
| July | 23 | 5.7 to 79 | |
| August | 6.1 | 2.3 to 18 | |
| September | 7.0 | 2.6 to 25 | |
| October | 18 | 7.0 to 43 | |
| November | 20 | 9.1 to 46 | |
| December | 6.8 | 2.5 to 22 |
Typical is the median of each month’s daily median values, and the usual range runs from the median 25th to the median 75th percentile, across about 80 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for South Branch Buffalo River at Sabin, MN (site 05061500). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
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Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show South Branch Buffalo River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
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