Rivers in South Dakota

Big Sioux River above Canton

Lincoln County, South DakotaNWS CBSS2Sioux Falls office

Below flood stage
1225.6ftStage

Observed Tue, Sep 22, 1:00 AM CDT

Flood stage
1235.0 ft
Record crest
1248.3 ft2024

Open the live map with the river flood outlook

Flood stages and impacts

CategoryStage
Major flood1245.0 ft
Moderate flood1238.0 ft
Minor flood1235.0 ft
Action1233.0 ft
  1. 1245.0 ftHighway 18 begins to flood and major damage will occur to trees and fences throughout the floodplain.
  2. 1238.0 ftNearly all crop and pasture land in the 1/2 mile wide floodplain will be inundated.
  3. 1237.0 ftThe park on the south side of Canton begins to flood.
  4. 1236.0 ftThe parking lot at the Big Sioux access point off of Hwy 18 at the gauge location begins to flood.
  5. 1235.0 ftFlooding begins to affect significant amounts of crop and pasture land.
  6. 1233.0 ftThe parking lot of the Big Sioux Access point on the south side of Canton begins to flood.

Crest history

16 crests on NOAA’s list since 1969.

#DateStage
1June 22, 20241248.3 ft
2June 16, 20141246.7 ft
3September 13, 20191245.9 ft
4April 10, 19691245.0 ft
5March 15, 20191244.7 ft
6June 22, 20181242.2 ft
7May 8, 19931240.5 ft
8April 24, 20011239.2 ft
9March 28, 19971237.9 ft
10September 23, 19861237.7 ft
11April 10, 20231236.0 ft
12March 30, 20201235.2 ft
13March 16, 20101235.0 ft
14July 4, 19921234.8 ft
15June 14, 19941233.3 ft
16August 19, 20251229.3 ft

Most recent crests

  • August 19, 2025: 1229.3 ft
  • June 22, 2024: 1248.3 ft
  • April 10, 2023: 1236.0 ft
  • March 30, 2020: 1235.2 ft
  • September 13, 2019: 1245.9 ft
  • March 15, 2019: 1244.7 ft
  • June 22, 2018: 1242.2 ft
  • June 16, 2014: 1246.7 ft
  • March 16, 2010: 1235.0 ft
  • April 24, 2001: 1239.2 ft

Nearby

Upstream, downstream and the gauges around this one.

What this means

Forecasts by the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center. Forecasts are not available. Only observed stages are available for this point. No forecasts are available for this location Gauge reading may be affected by ice.

Sources

Stage, flood stages, impacts and crest history from NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service.