Gulf Coast Gauges

Copano Creek near Refugio water level

USGS gauge 08189200 · Refugio County · Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend · NWS gauge RCCT2

2.34 ft

gage height, Oct 23, 2026 at 1:30 PM CDT · 35 minutes ago

Below NWS minor flood stage
9.7 ft
NWS action stage
5.0 ft
NWS minor flood stage
12.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
14.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
17.0 ft
Highest since 1971 (USGS)
21.00 ft (September 12, 1971)
Usual range
2.34 to 2.51 ft

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

No National Weather Service alert covering Refugio County was active when this page was generated (Oct 23, 2026 at 2:05 PM CDT). Alerts are issued and expire at any time; the current list is at alerts.weather.gov.

Last 7 days

2.3 2.6 2.8 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 this gauge's own zero point, which sits at 15.93 ft NAVD88. It is not a water depth and not an elevation: add 15.93 ft to get the water surface elevation.

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

2.3 2.9 3.4 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-23 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1971

In 56 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1971), the highest peak was 21.00 ft on September 12, 1971. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 3.37 ft on October 2, 2026, higher than the annual peak in 2 of 56 years.

1 7 12 17 22 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 major 17 ft moderate 14 ft minor 12 ft action 5 ft Water year 1971: 21.00 ft on September 12, 1971 Water year 1972: 14.18 ft on April 29, 1972 Water year 1973: 14.68 ft on June 16, 1973 Water year 1974: 13.68 ft on September 13, 1974 Water year 1975: 8.66 ft on November 25, 1974 Water year 1976: 10.63 ft on July 16, 1976 Water year 1977: 11.44 ft on December 21, 1976 Water year 1978: 16.12 ft on September 14, 1978 Water year 1979: 12.77 ft on September 21, 1979 Water year 1980: 9.65 ft on January 22, 1980 Water year 1981: 18.70 ft on June 13, 1981 Water year 1982: 17.14 ft on November 2, 1981 Water year 1983: 15.56 ft on July 17, 1983 Water year 1984: 14.72 ft on October 20, 1983 Water year 1985: 11.08 ft on April 12, 1985 Water year 1986: 3.34 ft on December 12, 1985 Water year 1987: 9.69 ft on December 26, 1986 Water year 1988: 8.09 ft on October 24, 1987 Water year 1989: 5.27 ft on June 30, 1989 Water year 1990: 16.29 ft on July 18, 1990 Water year 1991: 9.02 ft on February 6, 1991 Water year 1992: 12.62 ft on March 30, 1992 Water year 1993: 13.24 ft on June 22, 1993 Water year 1994: 7.77 ft on June 15, 1994 Water year 1995: 10.51 ft on May 30, 1995 Water year 1996: 6.28 ft on June 28, 1996 Water year 1997: 15.43 ft on March 19, 1997 Water year 1998: 13.61 ft on October 15, 1997 Water year 1999: 14.43 ft on October 21, 1998 Water year 2000: 8.30 ft on March 14, 2000 Water year 2001: 11.66 ft on September 4, 2001 Water year 2002: 11.48 ft on November 18, 2001 Water year 2003: 12.30 ft on November 5, 2002 Water year 2004: 14.67 ft on May 16, 2004 Water year 2005: 14.98 ft on March 7, 2005 Water year 2006: 10.36 ft on June 3, 2006 Water year 2007: 17.76 ft on July 7, 2007 Water year 2008: 5.92 ft on August 20, 2008 Water year 2009: 6.08 ft on September 11, 2009 Water year 2010: 14.27 ft on November 23, 2009 Water year 2011: 5.15 ft on January 16, 2011 Water year 2012: 8.24 ft on April 17, 2012 Water year 2013: 6.17 ft on May 1, 2013 Water year 2014: 10.43 ft on June 27, 2014 Water year 2015: 13.17 ft on June 22, 2015 Water year 2016: 14.13 ft on May 18, 2016 Water year 2017: 16.84 ft on August 29, 2017 Water year 2018: 14.37 ft on June 22, 2018 Water year 2019: 11.11 ft on December 13, 2018 Water year 2020: 2.92 ft on October 30, 2019 Water year 2021: 19.33 ft on July 9, 2021 Water year 2022: 12.14 ft on October 18, 2021 Water year 2023: 6.40 ft on May 20, 2023 Water year 2024: 12.06 ft on July 28, 2024 Water year 2025: 8.65 ft on June 17, 2025 Water year 2026: 12.76 ft on May 29, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 3.37 ft on October 2, 2026 1971 2021 1981

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.

NWS historic crests

DateCrestAbove minor flood stage
September 12, 197121.00 ft9.0 ft
July 9, 202119.33 ft7.3 ft
July 9, 202119.17 ft7.2 ft
December 31, 199618.60 ft6.6 ft
July 7, 200717.26 ft5.3 ft
December 31, 199717.00 ft5.0 ft
August 29, 201716.84 ft4.8 ft
May 22, 202114.84 ft2.8 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.

Download the readings

copano-creek-near-refugio.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.