Gulf Coast Gauges

Sims Bayou at Houston water level

USGS gauge 08075500 · Harris County · Sims Bayou watershed · NWS gauge HSIT2

2.07 ft

gage height, Oct 20, 2026 at 12:30 PM CDT · 20 minutes ago

Below NWS minor flood stage
24.1 ft
NWS action stage
23.2 ft
NWS minor flood stage
26.2 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
27.2 ft
NWS major flood stage
28.2 ft
Highest since 1953 (USGS)
33.23 ft (August 18, 1983)
Usual range
0.95 to 2.90 ft

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

No National Weather Service alert covering Harris County was active when this page was generated (Oct 20, 2026 at 12:50 PM CDT). Alerts are issued and expire at any time; the current list is at alerts.weather.gov.

Last 7 days

-0.5 1.2 2.9 Oct 14 Oct 15 Oct 16 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20

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

-0.5 1.6 3.7 2026-09-11 – 2026-10-20 · bars are daily low to high

Annual peaks since 1953

In 72 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 1953), the highest peak was 33.23 ft on August 18, 1983. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 3.67 ft on October 1, 2026.

1 10 18 27 36 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 major 28.2 ft moderate 27.2 ft minor 26.2 ft action 23.2 ft Water year 1953: 21.35 ft on May 18, 1953 Water year 1954: 18.30 ft on November 19, 1953 Water year 1955: 21.14 ft on February 6, 1955 Water year 1956: 13.62 ft on January 31, 1956 Water year 1957: 22.12 ft on March 17, 1957 Water year 1958: 23.22 ft on October 15, 1957 Water year 1959: 23.91 ft on July 25, 1959 Water year 1960: 29.76 ft on June 26, 1960 Water year 1961: 24.28 ft on June 19, 1961 Water year 1962: 23.78 ft on November 13, 1961 Water year 1963: 22.56 ft on January 17, 1963 Water year 1964: 19.93 ft on February 4, 1964 Water year 1965: 23.98 ft on December 10, 1964 Water year 1966: 27.99 ft on May 20, 1966 Water year 1967: 16.43 ft on April 13, 1967 Water year 1968: 24.80 ft on June 24, 1968 Water year 1969: 28.90 ft on February 21, 1969 Water year 1970: 30.22 ft on May 21, 1970 Water year 1971: 26.95 ft on October 12, 1970 Water year 1972: 23.38 ft on May 12, 1972 Water year 1973: 32.11 ft on July 7, 1973 Water year 1974: 23.35 ft on January 19, 1974 Water year 1975: 33.17 ft on June 9, 1975 Water year 1976: 33.14 ft on June 16, 1976 Water year 1977: 24.67 ft on April 20, 1977 Water year 1978: 24.67 ft on January 19, 1978 Water year 1979: 32.99 ft on September 20, 1979 Water year 1980: 29.53 ft on January 22, 1980 Water year 1981: 31.89 ft on August 31, 1981 Water year 1982: 30.44 ft on October 5, 1981 Water year 1983: 33.23 ft on August 18, 1983 Water year 1984: 21.34 ft on January 9, 1984 Water year 1985: 24.95 ft on February 23, 1985 Water year 1986: 31.83 ft on November 11, 1985 Water year 1987: 29.33 ft on June 12, 1987 Water year 1988: 17.99 ft on March 17, 1988 Water year 1989: 31.24 ft on August 1, 1989 Water year 1990: 18.84 ft on April 26, 1990 Water year 1991: 28.92 ft on January 15, 1991 Water year 1992: 25.16 ft on February 4, 1992 Water year 1993: 24.59 ft on June 20, 1993 Water year 1994: 25.61 ft on October 20, 1993 Water year 1995: 29.88 ft on October 18, 1994 Water year 1996: 21.67 ft on December 17, 1995 Water year 1998: 18.91 ft on September 11, 1998 Water year 1999: 14.59 ft on November 14, 1998 Water year 2000: 9.36 ft on April 3, 2000 Water year 2001: 27.91 ft on June 9, 2001 Water year 2002: 17.71 ft on August 15, 2002 Water year 2003: 10.88 ft on October 24, 2002 Water year 2004: 14.67 ft on June 25, 2004 Water year 2005: 14.56 ft on November 2, 2004 Water year 2006: 21.22 ft on June 19, 2006 Water year 2007: 18.10 ft on October 16, 2006 Water year 2008: 23.12 ft on September 13, 2008 Water year 2009: 18.81 ft on April 18, 2009 Water year 2010: 18.20 ft on July 2, 2010 Water year 2011: 14.45 ft on December 29, 2010 Water year 2012: 16.57 ft on January 9, 2012 Water year 2013: 18.76 ft on April 27, 2013 Water year 2014: 14.90 ft on May 28, 2014 Water year 2015: 22.38 ft on May 26, 2015 Water year 2016: 22.78 ft on October 31, 2015 Water year 2017: 26.56 ft on August 27, 2017 Water year 2018: 11.95 ft on July 4, 2018 Water year 2019: 14.92 ft on September 19, 2019 Water year 2020: 17.41 ft on September 22, 2020 Water year 2021: 11.26 ft on May 24, 2021 Water year 2022: 5.85 ft on April 25, 2022 Water year 2023: 10.14 ft on November 26, 2022 Water year 2024: 20.58 ft on July 8, 2024 Water year 2026: 8.46 ft on July 23, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 3.67 ft on October 1, 2026 1983 1975

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
October 5, 198130.44 ft4.2 ft
August 18, 198328.70 ft2.5 ft
June 9, 197528.64 ft2.4 ft
June 16, 197628.61 ft2.4 ft
September 20, 197928.46 ft2.3 ft
May 20, 196627.99 ft1.8 ft
June 9, 200127.91 ft1.7 ft
July 25, 197927.87 ft1.7 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, 20263.67 ftOct 1, 2026 at 1:30 PM CDT0.3 fthighest since water year 2026 (8.46 ft on July 23, 2026)

Harris County gauge nearby

Sims Bayou at Telephone Road, less than 0.1 mi away, read 2.01 ft at Oct 20, 2026 at 12:34 PM CDT, 24.2 ft below its top of bank. Both gauges report water surface elevation.

Download the readings

sims-bayou-at-houston.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 931 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.