Gulf Coast Gauges

Lavaca River at Hallettsville water level

USGS gauge 08163500 · Lavaca County · Victoria and Matagorda Bay · NWS gauge HTST2

3.16 ft

gage height, Oct 23, 2026 at 1:15 PM CDT · 50 minutes ago

Below NWS minor flood stage
23.8 ft
NWS action stage
20.0 ft
NWS minor flood stage
27.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
28.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
29.0 ft
Highest since 1940 (USGS)
41.10 ft (August 31, 1981)
Usual range
2.94 to 3.26 ft

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

No National Weather Service alert covering Lavaca 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

2.9 3.2 3.4 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 186.42 ft NAVD88. It is not a water depth and not an elevation: add 186.42 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

2.9 3.6 4.3 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-23 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1940

In 81 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1940), the highest peak was 41.10 ft on August 31, 1981. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 4.27 ft on October 1, 2026.

1 12 23 33 44 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 major 29 ft moderate 28 ft minor 27 ft action 20 ft Water year 1940: 40.60 ft on June 30, 1940 Water year 1941: 29.36 ft on November 24, 1940 Water year 1942: 28.43 ft on April 8, 1942 Water year 1943: 16.22 ft on May 25, 1943 Water year 1944: 26.61 ft on March 15, 1944 Water year 1945: 22.36 ft on January 18, 1945 Water year 1946: 20.95 ft on February 18, 1946 Water year 1947: 21.00 ft on March 18, 1947 Water year 1948: 18.45 ft on May 27, 1948 Water year 1949: 21.54 ft on April 25, 1949 Water year 1950: 19.17 ft on May 27, 1950 Water year 1951: 19.85 ft on June 12, 1951 Water year 1952: 26.94 ft on May 27, 1952 Water year 1953: 15.15 ft on May 14, 1953 Water year 1954: 19.10 ft on April 8, 1954 Water year 1955: 27.18 ft on May 18, 1955 Water year 1956: 14.02 ft on February 8, 1956 Water year 1957: 26.15 ft on April 29, 1957 Water year 1958: 30.55 ft on October 15, 1957 Water year 1959: 23.40 ft on April 10, 1959 Water year 1960: 18.88 ft on October 31, 1959 Water year 1961: 28.40 ft on October 18, 1960 Water year 1962: 16.83 ft on April 27, 1962 Water year 1963: 14.21 ft on February 18, 1963 Water year 1964: 14.24 ft on September 17, 1964 Water year 1965: 21.72 ft on June 5, 1965 Water year 1966: 28.83 ft on November 4, 1965 Water year 1967: 26.44 ft on September 21, 1967 Water year 1968: 24.44 ft on June 24, 1968 Water year 1969: 28.14 ft on May 1, 1969 Water year 1970: 18.66 ft on May 27, 1970 Water year 1971: 24.69 ft on September 10, 1971 Water year 1972: 28.78 ft on May 12, 1972 Water year 1973: 30.52 ft on June 13, 1973 Water year 1974: 30.16 ft on September 13, 1974 Water year 1975: 24.27 ft on May 24, 1975 Water year 1976: 20.40 ft on May 26, 1976 Water year 1977: 26.98 ft on April 20, 1977 Water year 1978: 24.60 ft on June 7, 1978 Water year 1979: 28.50 ft on May 12, 1979 Water year 1980: 23.00 ft on May 21, 1980 Water year 1981: 41.10 ft on August 31, 1981 Water year 1982: 32.16 ft on May 13, 1982 Water year 1983: 22.67 ft on May 21, 1983 Water year 1984: 12.95 ft on November 6, 1983 Water year 1985: 16.04 ft on February 23, 1985 Water year 1986: 19.71 ft on November 24, 1985 Water year 1987: 27.11 ft on June 4, 1987 Water year 1988: 12.30 ft on May 11, 1988 Water year 1989: 15.67 ft on May 15, 1989 Water year 1990: 10.20 ft on March 30, 1990 Water year 1991: 19.54 ft on April 14, 1991 Water year 1992: 23.85 ft on June 2, 1992 Water year 1993: 19.85 ft on May 24, 1993 Water year 1994: 19.29 ft on May 13, 1994 Water year 1995: 22.64 ft on October 18, 1994 Water year 1996: 14.52 ft on September 21, 1996 Water year 1997: 28.25 ft on April 11, 1997 Water year 1999: 28.53 ft on October 18, 1998 Water year 2000: 11.72 ft on May 2, 2000 Water year 2001: 16.45 ft on March 15, 2001 Water year 2002: 16.94 ft on April 9, 2002 Water year 2003: 20.83 ft on November 5, 2002 Water year 2004: 20.66 ft on June 10, 2004 Water year 2005: 14.92 ft on November 22, 2004 Water year 2007: 17.07 ft on July 8, 2007 Water year 2009: 12.41 ft on April 18, 2009 Water year 2010: 14.27 ft on September 8, 2010 Water year 2012: 14.30 ft on January 26, 2012 Water year 2015: 17.93 ft on May 19, 2015 Water year 2016: 17.50 ft on April 16, 2016 Water year 2017: 25.30 ft on August 27, 2017 Water year 2018: 12.60 ft on March 29, 2018 Water year 2019: 19.74 ft on December 7, 2018 Water year 2020: 12.81 ft on June 25, 2020 Water year 2021: 23.47 ft on May 19, 2021 Water year 2022: 17.61 ft on October 14, 2021 Water year 2023: 21.27 ft on May 13, 2023 Water year 2024: 21.27 ft on January 24, 2024 Water year 2025: 9.00 ft on December 25, 2024 Water year 2026: 17.62 ft on June 5, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 4.27 ft on October 1, 2026 1981 1940

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
August 31, 198141.10 ft14.1 ft
June 30, 194040.60 ft13.6 ft
May 13, 198232.16 ft5.2 ft
October 15, 195730.55 ft3.6 ft
June 13, 197330.52 ft3.5 ft
September 13, 197430.16 ft3.2 ft
November 24, 194029.36 ft2.4 ft
November 4, 196528.83 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, 20264.27 ftOct 1, 2026 at 6:30 PM CDT1.0 fthighest since water year 2026 (17.62 ft on June 5, 2026)

Download the readings

lavaca-river-at-hallettsville.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.