Gulf Coast Gauges

Tres Palacios River near Midfield water level

USGS gauge 08162600 · Matagorda County · Victoria and Matagorda Bay · NWS gauge MTPT2

3.32 ft

gage height, Oct 23, 2026 at 2:30 PM CDT · 20 minutes ago

Below NWS minor flood stage
20.7 ft
NWS action stage
15.0 ft
NWS minor flood stage
24.0 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
26.0 ft
NWS major flood stage
29.0 ft
Highest since 1971 (USGS)
32.43 ft (October 17, 1983)
Usual range
3.07 to 3.82 ft

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

No National Weather Service alert covering Matagorda 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

3.1 3.4 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 3.64 ft NAVD88. It is not a water depth and not an elevation: add 3.64 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

3.0 5.8 8.5 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 32.43 ft on October 17, 1983. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 8.51 ft on October 2, 2026.

7 14 20 27 34 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 major 29 ft moderate 26 ft minor 24 ft action 15 ft Water year 1971: 30.38 ft on October 12, 1970 Water year 1972: 27.85 ft on May 8, 1972 Water year 1973: 31.11 ft on September 11, 1973 Water year 1974: 28.39 ft on May 11, 1974 Water year 1975: 26.76 ft on May 31, 1975 Water year 1976: 28.03 ft on December 25, 1975 Water year 1977: 25.14 ft on November 20, 1976 Water year 1978: 20.39 ft on October 24, 1977 Water year 1979: 31.73 ft on September 20, 1979 Water year 1980: 29.62 ft on May 19, 1980 Water year 1981: 29.36 ft on July 7, 1981 Water year 1982: 30.56 ft on May 7, 1982 Water year 1983: 27.48 ft on September 21, 1983 Water year 1984: 32.43 ft on October 17, 1983 Water year 1985: 28.21 ft on October 22, 1984 Water year 1986: 20.30 ft on December 12, 1985 Water year 1987: 28.00 ft on February 26, 1987 Water year 1988: 22.20 ft on November 25, 1987 Water year 1989: 25.07 ft on January 20, 1989 Water year 1990: 27.53 ft on February 22, 1990 Water year 1991: 29.58 ft on April 5, 1991 Water year 1992: 29.70 ft on May 16, 1992 Water year 1993: 27.65 ft on February 10, 1993 Water year 1994: 20.79 ft on June 4, 1994 Water year 1995: 31.36 ft on October 19, 1994 Water year 1996: 28.64 ft on June 25, 1996 Water year 1997: 28.86 ft on March 17, 1997 Water year 1998: 30.75 ft on September 11, 1998 Water year 1999: 28.08 ft on November 14, 1998 Water year 2000: 24.97 ft on May 20, 2000 Water year 2001: 28.65 ft on September 2, 2001 Water year 2002: 26.98 ft on December 3, 2001 Water year 2003: 28.55 ft on November 5, 2002 Water year 2004: 29.92 ft on May 14, 2004 Water year 2005: 28.39 ft on October 14, 2004 Water year 2006: 29.46 ft on July 27, 2006 Water year 2007: 30.04 ft on July 5, 2007 Water year 2008: 22.90 ft on September 15, 2008 Water year 2009: 18.96 ft on November 12, 2008 Water year 2010: 28.21 ft on May 16, 2010 Water year 2011: 18.72 ft on December 30, 2010 Water year 2012: 29.56 ft on July 11, 2012 Water year 2013: 22.76 ft on January 10, 2013 Water year 2014: 19.27 ft on November 5, 2013 Water year 2015: 29.65 ft on June 17, 2015 Water year 2016: 30.09 ft on October 25, 2015 Water year 2017: 30.21 ft on August 29, 2017 Water year 2018: 23.44 ft on February 10, 2018 Water year 2019: 31.80 ft on June 5, 2019 Water year 2020: 25.67 ft on September 22, 2020 Water year 2021: 29.23 ft on May 19, 2021 Water year 2022: 25.39 ft on February 1, 2022 Water year 2023: 27.70 ft on May 15, 2023 Water year 2024: 29.28 ft on July 9, 2024 Water year 2025: 29.39 ft on June 12, 2025 Water year 2026: 28.82 ft on July 14, 2026 Water year 2027 so far: 8.51 ft on October 2, 2026 1984 2019 1979

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
June 1, 196037.00 ft13.0 ft
August 1, 194535.00 ft11.0 ft
October 17, 198332.43 ft8.4 ft
June 6, 201931.80 ft7.8 ft
September 20, 197931.73 ft7.7 ft
October 19, 199431.36 ft7.4 ft
September 11, 197331.11 ft7.1 ft
September 11, 199830.75 ft6.8 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, 20268.51 ftOct 2, 2026 at 11:30 AM CDT5.5 fthighest since water year 2026 (28.82 ft on July 14, 2026)

Download the readings

tres-palacios-river-near-midfield.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 4,034 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.