Gulf Coast Gauges

Buffalo Bayou near Katy water level

USGS gauge 08072300 · Fort Bend County · Barker Reservoir watershed

97.07 ft

gage height, Oct 20, 2026 at 12:30 PM CDT · 20 minutes ago

Highest since 2010 (USGS)
118.28 ft (August 28, 2017)
Usual range
96.96 to 98.52 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 12:50 PM CDT). Alerts are issued and expire at any time; the current list is at alerts.weather.gov.

Last 7 days

97.0 97.7 98.5 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

96.8 100.2 103.5 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-20 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1978

In 17 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 2010), the highest peak was 118.28 ft on August 28, 2017. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 103.54 ft on October 2, 2026, higher than the annual peak in 3 of 17 years.

21 47 73 99 125 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Water year 1978: 33.22 ft on January 19, 1978 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1979: 37.54 ft on September 20, 1979 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1980: 33.50 ft on January 21, 1980 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1981: 36.70 ft on August 31, 1981 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1982: 35.73 ft on May 13, 1982 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1983: 33.56 ft on February 10, 1983 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1984: 29.67 ft on February 20, 1984 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1985: 34.98 ft on February 10, 1985 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1986: 37.56 ft on November 11, 1985 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1987: 35.85 ft on December 15, 1986 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1988: 29.66 ft on April 29, 1988 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1989: 33.76 ft on August 1, 1989 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1990: 33.33 ft on February 21, 1990 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1991: 38.31 ft on April 14, 1991 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1992: 36.11 ft on December 22, 1991 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1993: 35.59 ft on April 4, 1993 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1994: 38.85 ft on February 21, 1994 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1995: 35.25 ft on October 18, 1994 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1996: 29.81 ft on August 30, 1996 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1997: 33.34 ft on May 24, 1997 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1998: 33.74 ft on September 11, 1998 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1999: 33.91 ft on November 13, 1998 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2000: 30.02 ft on April 2, 2000 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2001: 31.29 ft on March 28, 2001 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2002: 29.53 ft on October 11, 2001 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2003: 33.62 ft on October 29, 2002 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2004: 30.70 ft on May 1, 2004 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2005: 33.00 ft on November 23, 2004 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2006: 28.38 ft on December 14, 2005 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2007: 31.52 ft on October 16, 2006 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2008: 33.53 ft on September 14, 2008 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2009: 106.41 ft on April 28, 2009 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 2010: 104.63 ft on October 29, 2009 Water year 2011: 99.95 ft on January 5, 2011 Water year 2012: 104.23 ft on January 9, 2012 Water year 2013: 104.30 ft on January 9, 2013 Water year 2014: 105.29 ft on May 26, 2014 Water year 2015: 107.07 ft on May 26, 2015 Water year 2016: 111.92 ft on April 18, 2016 Water year 2017: 118.28 ft on August 28, 2017 Water year 2018: 104.39 ft on June 20, 2018 Water year 2019: 106.14 ft on September 19, 2019 Water year 2020: 108.16 ft on June 25, 2020 Water year 2021: 104.22 ft on December 31, 2020 Water year 2022: 106.93 ft on August 10, 2022 Water year 2023: 106.79 ft on January 24, 2023 Water year 2024: 107.76 ft on July 8, 2024 Water year 2025: 102.95 ft on June 16, 2025 Water year 2026: 102.79 ft on June 3, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 103.54 ft on October 2, 2026 2017 2020

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. Grey hollow dots (32 years) were measured on a different datum or at a different site, or before the gauge's datum last changed, so they are shown but not compared.

In past storms

StormPeakPeak timeRiseCompared with its record
October 1–2, 2026103.54 ftOct 2, 2026 at 3:30 AM CDT6.5 fthighest since water year 2024 (107.76 ft on July 8, 2024)

Harris County gauge nearby

Buffalo Bayou at Greenbusch Road, less than 0.1 mi away, read 97.06 ft at Oct 20, 2026 at 11:25 AM CDT, 18.2 ft below its top of bank. Both gauges report water surface elevation.

Download the readings

buffalo-bayou-near-katy.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 931 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.