Gulf Coast Gauges

Colorado River near Bay City water level

USGS gauge 08162500 · Matagorda County · Victoria and Matagorda Bay · NWS gauge BACT2

2.84 ft

gage height, Oct 23, 2026 at 2:15 PM CDT · 35 minutes ago

Below NWS minor flood stage
41.2 ft
NWS action stage
23.0 ft
NWS minor flood stage
44.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
45.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
46.0 ft
Highest since 1914 (USGS)
56.10 ft (December 10, 1913)
Usual range
2.37 to 3.95 ft

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

No National Weather Service alert covering Matagorda County was active when this page was generated (Oct 23, 2026 at 2:50 PM CDT). Alerts are issued and expire at any time; the current list is at alerts.weather.gov.

Last 7 days

1.7 2.8 4.0 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20 Oct 21 Oct 22 Oct 23

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 NGVD29, so its gage height is the water surface elevation above that datum. It is not a water depth.

The flood stages are the National Weather Service's, on the same scale as the gage height; they are the NWS's references for this location, not estimates made here.

Daily highs and lows since September 11, 2026

1.7 3.7 5.6 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-23 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1914

In 81 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1914), the highest peak was 56.10 ft on December 10, 1913. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 5.60 ft on October 11, 2026.

2 16 31 45 60 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 major 46 ft moderate 45 ft minor 44 ft action 23 ft Water year 1914: 56.10 ft on December 10, 1913 Water year 1922: 55.40 ft on May 8, 1922 Water year 1935: 54.60 ft on June 22, 1935 Water year 1937: 52.20 ft on October 5, 1936 Water year 1938: 53.40 ft on August 2, 1938 Water year 1940: 46.60 ft on July 4, 1940 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1941: 47.60 ft on November 27, 1940 Water year 1948: 22.73 ft on May 28, 1948 Water year 1949: 34.00 ft on April 28, 1949 Water year 1950: 30.51 ft on June 4, 1950 Water year 1951: 25.75 ft on June 7, 1951 Water year 1952: 29.07 ft on May 29, 1952 Water year 1953: 30.00 ft on May 1, 1953 Water year 1954: 24.83 ft on December 5, 1953 Water year 1955: 25.74 ft on May 21, 1955 Water year 1956: 20.95 ft on October 10, 1955 Water year 1957: 41.83 ft on May 1, 1957 Water year 1958: 42.77 ft on October 17, 1957 Water year 1959: 34.48 ft on April 13, 1959 Water year 1960: 46.40 ft on June 26, 1960 Water year 1961: 44.09 ft on September 15, 1961 Water year 1962: 29.80 ft on November 15, 1961 Water year 1963: 22.69 ft on February 22, 1963 Water year 1964: 21.96 ft on September 19, 1964 Water year 1965: 31.05 ft on May 20, 1965 Water year 1966: 25.64 ft on December 6, 1965 Water year 1967: 27.50 ft on September 23, 1967 Water year 1968: 37.49 ft on June 26, 1968 Water year 1969: 27.92 ft on February 23, 1969 Water year 1970: 26.34 ft on May 19, 1970 Water year 1971: 24.76 ft on October 25, 1970 Water year 1972: 27.34 ft on May 13, 1972 Water year 1973: 38.70 ft on June 15, 1973 Water year 1974: 32.14 ft on September 16, 1974 Water year 1975: 34.45 ft on May 28, 1975 Water year 1976: 23.47 ft on April 22, 1976 Water year 1977: 34.20 ft on April 24, 1977 Water year 1978: 22.96 ft on September 15, 1978 Water year 1979: 29.90 ft on June 9, 1979 Water year 1980: 19.20 ft on May 19, 1980 Water year 1981: 30.95 ft on June 18, 1981 Water year 1982: 32.48 ft on November 3, 1981 Water year 1983: 22.90 ft on May 23, 1983 Water year 1984: 16.02 ft on October 17, 1983 Water year 1985: 24.60 ft on October 25, 1984 Water year 1986: 24.23 ft on November 28, 1985 Water year 1987: 34.32 ft on June 17, 1987 Water year 1988: 18.24 ft on March 19, 1988 Water year 1989: 14.60 ft on May 16, 1989 Water year 1990: 13.74 ft on February 22, 1990 Water year 1991: 24.04 ft on April 16, 1991 Water year 1992: 38.90 ft on December 27, 1991 Water year 1993: 30.28 ft on June 22, 1993 (different datum or site: not compared) Water year 1994: 18.69 ft on May 17, 1994 Water year 1995: 38.67 ft on October 20, 1994 Water year 1996: 16.76 ft on June 26, 1996 Water year 1997: 29.29 ft on March 19, 1997 Water year 1998: 26.09 ft on October 15, 1997 Water year 1999: 40.95 ft on October 24, 1998 Water year 2000: 12.98 ft on June 12, 2000 Water year 2001: 22.36 ft on September 1, 2001 Water year 2002: 27.05 ft on July 16, 2002 Water year 2003: 32.56 ft on November 8, 2002 Water year 2004: 24.38 ft on June 26, 2004 Water year 2005: 41.73 ft on November 27, 2004 Water year 2006: 12.53 ft on July 26, 2006 Water year 2007: 31.81 ft on July 5, 2007 Water year 2008: 21.15 ft on November 20, 2007 Water year 2009: 27.68 ft on April 19, 2009 Water year 2010: 18.31 ft on February 14, 2010 Water year 2011: 7.59 ft on January 13, 2011 Water year 2012: 23.13 ft on March 23, 2012 Water year 2013: 14.36 ft on January 10, 2013 Water year 2014: 26.49 ft on November 4, 2013 Water year 2015: 36.92 ft on May 31, 2015 Water year 2016: 40.45 ft on April 22, 2016 Water year 2017: 46.16 ft on September 2, 2017 Water year 2018: 23.40 ft on March 31, 2018 Water year 2019: 28.30 ft on June 5, 2019 Water year 2020: 14.41 ft on September 22, 2020 Water year 2021: 26.89 ft on June 7, 2021 Water year 2025: 11.89 ft on June 13, 2025 Water year 2026: 15.98 ft on July 24, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 5.60 ft on October 11, 2026 1914 1922 1935

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 (2 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.

NWS historic crests

DateCrestAbove minor flood stage
June 26, 196046.40 ft2.4 ft
September 2, 201746.16 ft2.2 ft
September 15, 196144.09 ft0.1 ft
October 17, 195742.77 ft—
May 1, 195741.83 ft—
November 27, 200441.73 ft—
October 24, 199840.95 ft—
April 22, 201640.45 ft—

The highest crests the National Weather Service lists for this gauge, as published. They can differ from the USGS annual peaks above: USGS records the year's highest gage height, which is not always the crest the NWS lists for the same flood.

In past storms

StormPeakPeak timeRiseCompared with its record
October 1–2, 20265.45 ftOct 3, 2026 at 8:45 AM CDT1.6 fthighest since water year 2026 (15.98 ft on July 24, 2026)

Download the readings

colorado-river-near-bay-city.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 4,037 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; flood stages and historic crests from the NWS National Water Prediction Service. This site is not affiliated with either agency.