gage height, Oct 20, 2026 at 11:00 AM CDT · 50 minutes ago
Below NWS minor flood stage
12.0 ft
NWS action stage
54.5 ft
NWS minor flood stage
58.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
62.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
69.0 ft
Highest since 2018 (USGS)
77.70 ft (May 3, 2024)
Usual range
46.02 to 46.26 ft
USGS marks recent readings as provisional: they can be revised after review.
Active National Weather Service alerts for Harris County
Tsunami Warning — issued Oct 20, 2026 at 11:31 AM CDT, expires Oct 20, 2026 at 12:31 PM CDT. TEST Tsunami Warning issued October 20 at 12:31PM EDT until October 20 at 1:31PM EDT by NWS National Tsunami Warning Center
Text as issued by NWS Houston/Galveston.
Last 7 days
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.
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
Annual peaks since 1985
In 9 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 2018), the highest peak was 77.70 ft on May 3, 2024. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 46.16 ft on October 3, 2026.
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.
NWS historic crests
Date
Crest
Above minor flood stage
August 29, 2017
81.15 ft
23.2 ft
May 3, 2024
77.70 ft
19.7 ft
October 19, 1994
76.00 ft
18.0 ft
September 19, 2019
73.01 ft
15.0 ft
June 1, 1973
72.60 ft
14.6 ft
November 14, 1998
71.70 ft
13.7 ft
May 29, 2016
69.63 ft
11.6 ft
January 8, 1998
69.03 ft
11.0 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.
highest since water year 2026 (55.49 ft on July 14, 2026)
Harris County gauge nearby
East Fork San Jacinto at FM 1485, less than 0.1 mi away, read 45.99 ft at Oct 20, 2026 at 11:04 AM CDT, 14.0 ft below its top of bank. Both gauges report water surface elevation.
Download the readings
east-fork-san-jacinto-river-near-new-caney.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 928 rows, with time in UTC and Central, gage height in feet, and the USGS approval status.
