Good morning. Both Lake Houston and Lake Conroe are sitting in their normal range this Thursday morning, October 1, and there are no National Weather Service flood alerts in effect for Harris, Montgomery or Liberty counties. Rain is in the forecast for the Lake Houston area today and heavier on Friday, with a 90 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms Friday afternoon, so the gauges are worth watching even though nothing in the current data points to a flood concern.
Lake Levels at a Glance
| Lake | Level | Percent full | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Houston | 42.19 feet | 98.4 percent | 5:30 a.m. Central, Thursday, October 1 |
| Lake Conroe | 199.50 feet | 93.0 percent | Daily value for Thursday, October 1 |
Lake Houston
Lake Houston read 42.19 feet at 5:30 a.m. Central on Thursday, October 1, on the United States Geological Survey gauge at Lk Houston nr Sheldon, TX, site 08072000. Over the past 48 hours the lake has moved between 42.08 and 42.24 feet, a swing of about two inches.
The Texas Water Development Board put Lake Houston at 42.19 feet and 98.4 percent of conservation capacity in its daily value for October 1. That matches the USGS reading exactly, which is the agreement you want to see between the two sources.
Lake Conroe
Lake Conroe stands at 199.50 feet and 93.0 percent full in the Texas Water Development Board daily value for October 1, down from 199.51 feet on Wednesday. That is one hundredth of a foot in a day, the ordinary slow drawdown rather than anything resembling a release event.
The upstream number matters here because San Jacinto River Authority releases from Lake Conroe flow down the West Fork of the San Jacinto River into Lake Houston. What the authority does at Conroe shows up downstream in Kingwood, Humble and Atascocita, which is why this paper carries the Conroe level alongside the local one.
Weather
Today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, partly sunny, with a high near 92. The National Weather Service puts heat index values as high as 103. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent, with new rainfall amounts between a quarter and half an inch possible.
Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mostly cloudy, with a low around 75. Southeast wind 0 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent, with another quarter to half an inch possible.
Friday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mostly cloudy, with a high near 88. East wind 0 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent, with a quarter to half an inch of new rainfall possible. The forecast carries scattered storms through the morning and a more organized round of showers and thunderstorms from early afternoon onward.
Active Alerts
There are no National Weather Service alerts of any kind in effect for Harris, Montgomery or Liberty counties this morning.
That is worth stating plainly, because the statewide picture is busy. Thirty-seven alerts were active across Texas at the time of this reading, including 18 flood advisories, eight flash flood warnings, six flood watches and four flood warnings, almost all of them issued by the Austin/San Antonio, San Angelo, Amarillo and Fort Worth offices in Central, West and North Texas. The only alert the Houston/Galveston office has out is a rip current statement for the coastal beaches at Galveston Island, Bolivar Peninsula and the Matagorda and Brazoria islands. None of it reaches the Lake Houston area.
Sources
Lake Houston elevation and the 48 hour range come from the United States Geological Survey gauge at Lk Houston nr Sheldon, TX, site 08072000. Percent full figures and the Lake Conroe elevation come from the Texas Water Development Board water data service for Lake Houston and Lake Conroe. The forecast and alerts come from the National Weather Service Houston/Galveston office. Gauge readings are provisional and subject to revision by the USGS.
