Gulf Coast Gauges

Buffalo Bayou at Turning Basin, Houston water level

USGS gauge 08074710 · Harris County · San Jacinto River watershed

2.16 ft

gage height, Oct 20, 2026 at 10:30 AM CDT · 65 minutes ago

Highest since 1987 (USGS)
14.76 ft (September 13, 2008)
Usual range
0.99 to 2.91 ft

USGS marks recent readings as provisional: they can be revised after review.

No National Weather Service alert covering Harris County was active when this page was generated (Oct 20, 2026 at 11:35 AM CDT). Alerts are issued and expire at any time; the current list is at alerts.weather.gov.

Last 7 days

-0.5 1.2 2.9 Oct 14 Oct 15 Oct 16 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20

Hourly averages of USGS readings. The shaded band is this gauge's usual range: the middle 80% of its readings since September 11, 2026.

How to read this gauge

Gage height is the height of the water surface above the gauge's zero point. This gauge's zero is set at 0 ft NAVD88, so its gage height is the water surface elevation above that datum. It is not a water depth.

Daily highs and lows since September 11, 2026

-0.5 1.6 3.6 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-20 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1987

In 35 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1987), the highest peak was 14.76 ft on September 13, 2008. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 3.64 ft on October 10, 2026, higher than the annual peak in 1 of 35 years.

2 6 9 12 16 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 Water year 1987: 4.50 ft on June 11, 1987 Water year 1988: 4.40 ft on April 29, 1988 Water year 1989: 9.10 ft on June 26, 1989 Water year 1990: 7.00 ft on October 15, 1989 Water year 1991: 5.00 ft on January 14, 1991 Water year 1992: 4.40 ft on March 4, 1992 Water year 1993: 5.60 ft on June 19, 1993 Water year 1994: 4.30 ft on November 16, 1993 Water year 1995: 7.10 ft on October 19, 1994 Water year 1996: 3.90 ft on October 30, 1995 Water year 1997: 6.80 ft on April 25, 1997 Water year 1998: 9.20 ft on September 11, 1998 Water year 1999: 4.50 ft on November 13, 1998 Water year 2000: 3.40 ft on May 2, 2000 Water year 2001: 9.60 ft on June 9, 2001 Water year 2002: 5.00 ft on September 7, 2002 Water year 2003: 7.50 ft on July 15, 2003 Water year 2004: 4.80 ft on November 18, 2003 Water year 2005: 4.40 ft on November 17, 2004 Water year 2006: 4.21 ft on June 19, 2006 Water year 2007: 6.89 ft on October 16, 2006 Water year 2008: 14.76 ft on September 13, 2008 Water year 2009: 6.08 ft on April 18, 2009 Water year 2012: 4.45 ft on October 9, 2011 Water year 2013: 4.44 ft on September 20, 2013 Water year 2014: 4.03 ft on October 31, 2013 Water year 2015: 5.55 ft on May 26, 2015 Water year 2016: 7.46 ft on October 31, 2015 Water year 2017: 12.52 ft on August 29, 2017 Water year 2018: 3.74 ft on October 4, 2017 Water year 2019: 5.40 ft on September 19, 2019 Water year 2020: 6.39 ft on September 22, 2020 Water year 2024: 8.21 ft on July 8, 2024 Water year 2025: 4.33 ft on November 4, 2024 Water year 2026: 4.79 ft on June 17, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 3.64 ft on October 10, 2026 2008 2017 2001

Each dot is the highest gage height of a water year (October to September), from the USGS annual peak record, with recent years USGS has not published yet taken from its 15-minute readings and this site's own; hover a dot for its date. Dashed lines are NWS flood stages.

In past storms

StormPeakPeak timeRiseCompared with its record
October 1–2, 20263.54 ftOct 2, 2026 at 5:30 AM CDT0.1 fthighest since water year 2026 (4.79 ft on June 17, 2026)

Harris County gauge nearby

Buffalo Bayou at Turning Basin, less than 0.1 mi away, read 2.15 ft at Oct 20, 2026 at 11:13 AM CDT, 6.8 ft below its top of bank. Both gauges report water surface elevation.

Download the readings

buffalo-bayou-at-turning-basin-houston.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 929 rows, with time in UTC and Central, gage height in feet, and the USGS approval status.

Source. Gage height from the U.S. Geological Survey. This site is not affiliated with either agency.