Good morning from the Lake Houston area. There are no flood alerts or weather alerts in effect for Harris, Montgomery or Liberty counties this morning. Both Lake Houston and Lake Conroe are sitting within their normal operating ranges, and the forecast through Tuesday is dry and warm.
Lake levels at a glance
| Lake | Level | Percent full | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Houston | 42.48 feet | 100.0 percent | 5:30 a.m. Central, Monday, October 5 |
| Lake Conroe | 199.90 feet | 94.8 percent | Daily value for Monday, October 5 |
Lake Houston
The USGS gauge at Lk Houston nr Sheldon, TX, site number 08072000, read 42.48 feet at 5:30 a.m. Central on Monday, October 5. Over the previous 48 hours the gauge ranged from a high of 42.80 feet at 11:15 p.m. Saturday, October 3, down to 42.48 feet at the 5:30 a.m. reading this morning, a spread of about thirty-two hundredths of a foot. This morning’s figure is the lowest point in that 48 hour window, which means the lake has been easing back down since late Saturday night rather than rising.
The Texas Water Development Board, which publishes once a day rather than through the day, puts Lake Houston at 42.58 feet and 100.0 percent of its conservation capacity for October 5. That is the fourth consecutive day the board has recorded the lake at 100.0 percent, after readings of 98.2 to 98.8 percent from September 26 through October 1. The two agencies are about a tenth of a foot apart this morning, which is a wider gap than the hundredth of a foot they usually show, and USGS remains the source for the elevation figure in this post.
On that 100.0 percent figure: it means the reservoir is full at its normal operating pool, which is where the San Jacinto River Authority and the City of Houston aim to keep it. It does not mean the lake is in flood.
Lake Conroe
Lake Conroe stood at 199.90 feet and 94.8 percent full in the Texas Water Development Board’s daily value for October 5, down from 199.92 feet and 94.9 percent on October 4. That is a decline of about two hundredths of a foot, and it ends a four day run of daily rises that began October 1. The board publishes this reservoir once a day, so this is a daily value and not an intraday reading.
Lake Conroe matters to readers in Kingwood, Humble and Atascocita because San Jacinto River Authority releases from Lake Conroe flow down the West Fork of the San Jacinto River into Lake Houston. The upstream level is part of the local flooding picture downstream, which is why this post carries both lakes rather than one.
Weather through Tuesday
Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 86. North wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 6 percent. The National Weather Service did not issue a heat index value for this period.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Northeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation 7 percent. No heat index value was issued.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 9 percent. No heat index value was issued.
Active alerts
There are no active National Weather Service alerts for Harris County, Montgomery County or Liberty County this morning. Three alerts were active elsewhere in Texas at the time of this reading, two rip current statements and one coastal flood advisory, all of them for coastal counties well outside the Lake Houston area.
Sources
Lake Houston elevation from the U.S. Geological Survey gauge 08072000. Lake Conroe and Lake Houston percent full from the Texas Water Development Board. Forecast and alerts from the National Weather Service Houston/Galveston office. Gauge readings are provisional and subject to revision by the USGS.
