gage height, Oct 20, 2026 at 11:45 AM CDT · 65 minutes ago
Below NWS minor flood stage
18.2 ft
NWS action stage
126.4 ft
NWS minor flood stage
129.4 ft
NWS moderate flood stage
130.5 ft
NWS major flood stage
133.5 ft
Highest since 2010 (USGS)
133.89 ft (August 28, 2017)
Usual range
111.10 to 112.38 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
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 1984
In 17 complete water years of comparable USGS records (since 2010), the highest peak was 133.89 ft on August 28, 2017. So far in water year 2027 (since October 1) the highest reading is 116.86 ft on October 2, 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 (26 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 28, 2017
133.89 ft
4.5 ft
April 18, 2016
132.13 ft
2.7 ft
June 9, 2001
131.53 ft
2.1 ft
September 14, 2008
131.21 ft
1.8 ft
October 18, 1994
131.00 ft
1.6 ft
May 18, 1989
130.73 ft
1.3 ft
January 19, 1979
130.40 ft
1.0 ft
October 27, 2006
130.32 ft
0.9 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 (125.78 ft on June 16, 2026)
Harris County gauge nearby
Willow Creek at Kuykendahl Road, less than 0.1 mi away, read 111.17 ft at Oct 20, 2026 at 11:34 AM CDT, 18.2 ft below its top of bank. Both gauges report water surface elevation.
Download the readings
willow-creek-near-tomball.csv (CSV): every reading stored for this gauge since September 11, 2026, 929 rows, with time in UTC and Central, gage height in feet, and the USGS approval status.
