Gulf Coast Gauges

E Mustang Creek near Louise water level

USGS gauge 08164504 · Wharton County · Victoria and Matagorda Bay · NWS gauge LMCT2

2.94 ft

gage height, Oct 23, 2026 at 1:30 PM CDT · 80 minutes ago

Below NWS minor flood stage
16.1 ft
NWS action stage
10.0 ft
NWS minor flood stage
19.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
22.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
25.0 ft
Highest since 1997 (USGS)
24.35 ft (November 21, 2004)
Usual range
2.84 to 3.84 ft

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

No National Weather Service alert covering Wharton 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

2.8 3.3 3.8 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 43.71 ft NAVD88. It is not a water depth and not an elevation: add 43.71 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 5.0 7.7 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-23 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1997

In 30 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1997), the highest peak was 24.35 ft on November 21, 2004. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 7.68 ft on October 3, 2026.

6 11 16 21 26 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 major 25 ft moderate 22 ft minor 19 ft action 10 ft Water year 1997: 21.00 ft on April 11, 1997 Water year 1998: 22.16 ft on September 11, 1998 Water year 1999: 20.31 ft on November 14, 1998 Water year 2000: 18.10 ft on May 2, 2000 Water year 2001: 21.90 ft on August 31, 2001 Water year 2002: 20.82 ft on September 17, 2002 Water year 2003: 22.08 ft on November 4, 2002 Water year 2004: 20.75 ft on May 14, 2004 Water year 2005: 24.35 ft on November 21, 2004 Water year 2006: 11.27 ft on May 28, 2006 Water year 2007: 20.28 ft on January 24, 2007 Water year 2008: 20.62 ft on September 14, 2008 Water year 2009: 12.70 ft on April 19, 2009 Water year 2010: 20.62 ft on May 16, 2010 Water year 2011: 7.74 ft on May 26, 2011 Water year 2012: 17.39 ft on July 12, 2012 Water year 2013: 15.72 ft on January 9, 2013 Water year 2014: 17.54 ft on May 27, 2014 Water year 2015: 22.29 ft on June 18, 2015 Water year 2016: 15.38 ft on October 25, 2015 Water year 2017: 19.10 ft on August 29, 2017 Water year 2018: 11.54 ft on March 29, 2018 Water year 2019: 16.54 ft on June 5, 2019 Water year 2020: 17.35 ft on September 22, 2020 Water year 2021: 22.76 ft on May 16, 2021 Water year 2022: 16.23 ft on February 1, 2022 Water year 2023: 16.94 ft on May 14, 2023 Water year 2024: 18.22 ft on January 25, 2024 Water year 2025: 19.20 ft on June 14, 2025 Water year 2026: 19.74 ft on July 15, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 7.68 ft on October 3, 2026 2005 2021 2015

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
November 21, 200424.35 ft5.4 ft
June 18, 201522.29 ft3.3 ft
September 11, 199822.16 ft3.2 ft
November 4, 200222.08 ft3.1 ft
August 31, 200121.90 ft2.9 ft
April 11, 199721.00 ft2.0 ft
September 17, 200320.82 ft1.8 ft
September 17, 200220.82 ft1.8 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.

In past storms

StormPeakPeak timeRiseCompared with its record
October 1–2, 20267.68 ftOct 3, 2026 at 12:00 AM CDT4.8 fthighest since water year 2026 (19.74 ft on July 15, 2026)

Download the readings

e-mustang-creek-near-louise.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 4,036 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.