Brays Bayou at South Main Street water level
Harris County Flood Warning System gauge 420 · Brays Bayou · Brays Bayou watershed
water surface elevation, Oct 20, 2026 at 11:29 AM CDT · 36 minutes ago
- Below top of bank
- 24.5 ft
- Top of bank
- 41.0 ft
- Lowest since Sep 11
- 16.50 ft
- Highest since Sep 11
- 24.32 ft
- Usual range
- 16.71 to 20.18 ft
- Latest vs usual
- Below usual range
Of the 481 readings stored for this gauge, 0.2% were lower than the reading above. The closest this gauge has come to its top of bank in that period is 16.7 ft.
- Tsunami Warning — issued Oct 20, 2026 at 11:31 AM CDT, expires Oct 20, 2026 at 12:31 PM CDT.
TEST Tsunami Warning issued October 20 at 12:31PM EDT until October 20 at 1:31PM EDT by NWS National Tsunami Warning Center
Text as issued by NWS Houston/Galveston.
Last 7 days
Hourly averages of readings as published. The shaded band is this gauge's usual range: the middle 80% of its readings since Sep 11. This gauge reports about every 89 minutes, and only when its value changes, so gaps in the line are normal.
| Time | Level | Below top of bank |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 20, 11:00 AM CDT | 16.51 ft | 24.5 ft |
| Oct 20, 9:00 AM CDT | 16.50 ft | 24.5 ft |
| Oct 20, 7:00 AM CDT | 16.56 ft | 24.4 ft |
| Oct 20, 5:00 AM CDT | 16.60 ft | 24.4 ft |
| Oct 20, 3:00 AM CDT | 16.67 ft | 24.3 ft |
| Oct 19, 11:00 PM CDT | 16.69 ft | 24.3 ft |
| Oct 19, 7:00 PM CDT | 16.64 ft | 24.4 ft |
| Oct 19, 3:00 PM CDT | 16.63 ft | 24.4 ft |
| Oct 19, 11:00 AM CDT | 16.65 ft | 24.4 ft |
| Oct 19, 7:00 AM CDT | 16.64 ft | 24.4 ft |
How to read this gauge
The number above is an elevation, not a water depth. It is the height of the water surface above mean sea level, so South Main Street reads around 16 ft even when the channel is low. What matters is the distance to the top of bank: the elevation at which water reaches the top of the channel at this location. For this gauge that is 41.0 ft.
The bottom of the channel here sits at 13.6 ft, so the channel is roughly 27.4 ft deep at this crossing. Harris County publishes the top-of-bank figure with each reading; it is their reference, not an estimate made here.
Daily highs and lows since September 11, 2026
Download the readings
brays-bayou-at-south-main-street.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 481 rows, updated with this page. Columns: time in UTC, time in Central, water surface elevation, top of bank, and distance below top of bank, all in feet. The source and accuracy notes below apply to the file too.
Put this gauge on your website
HOAs, MUDs, civic clubs and schools can show this gauge's latest reading on their own site. Paste this HTML where it should appear; the card updates with this page. More gauges.
In past storms
| Storm | Peak | Peak time | Rise | Below bank at peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1–2, 2026 | 23.36 ft | Oct 2, 2026 at 4:05 AM CDT | 6.5 ft | 17.6 ft |
Storms are runs of National Weather Service flood alerts for Harris County; each storm page lists every gauge's peak.
Other gauges on Brays Bayou
Readings from the rest of the Brays Bayou gauge network, each at its own most recent reading. Elevations fall as the channel runs downstream, so compare the below top of bank column rather than the raw levels.
| Crossing | Level | Below top of bank | Reading taken |
|---|---|---|---|
| SH 6 | 67.73 ft | 13.3 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:38 AM CDT |
| Belle Park Drive | 52.30 ft | 20.1 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:36 AM CDT |
| Bellaire Boulevard | 48.35 ft | 20.9 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:37 AM CDT |
| Beltway 8 | 45.69 ft | 20.7 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:34 AM CDT |
| Gessner Road | 38.47 ft | 18.5 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:34 AM CDT |
| Rice Avenue | 28.14 ft | 23.2 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:32 AM CDT |
| Stella Link Road | 22.19 ft | 26.2 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:30 AM CDT |
| Martin Luther King Blvd | 2.16 ft | 33.8 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:43 AM CDT |
| Lawndale Street | 2.10 ft | 12.4 ft | Oct 20, 2026 at 11:46 AM CDT |
USGS gauge nearby
Brays Bayou at Houston (USGS 08075000), less than 0.1 mi away, read 16.53 ft at Oct 20, 2026 at 11:45 AM CDT, 24.5 ft below the NWS minor flood stage of 41.0 ft. Its zero is at 0 ft NAVD88, so it also reports water surface elevation.
All gauges in this watershed: Brays Bayou watershed water levels.