Is the Brazos River flooding?
The Brazos River is tracked by 18 USGS streamgauges in Texas. This page compares each gauge’s live water level against its official National Weather Service flood stage, refreshed every 15 minutes, so you can tell whether the Brazos River is running normal, rising toward flood stage, or already flooding. 14 of 18 gauges have both a usable water-level reading and a published minor flood stage. Gauges without a published flood stage show water level and flow only. For nearby rivers, see all Texas river levels.
River facts
The longest-running gauge on this river is Brazos River at SH 21 near Bryan, TX. The highest level ever recorded there was 61.00 ft in 1854. Peak records there go back to 1854 (34 annual peaks). It is currently at 7.83 ft, 53.2 ft below that record.
| Gauge | Status | Stage | Flood stage | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazos River at Seymour, TX | No flooding | 0.37 ft | 12 ft | |
| Brazos River near South Bend, TX | No flooding | 2.34 ft | 21 ft | |
| Brazos River near Palo Pinto, TX | No flooding | 1.39 ft | 16 ft | |
| Brazos River near Dennis, TX | No flooding | 2.06 ft | 21 ft | |
| Brazos River near Glen Rose, TX | No flooding | 4.03 ft | 29 ft | |
| Brazos River near Aquilla, TX | No flooding | 6.31 ft | 29 ft | |
| Brazos River at Waco, TX | No flooding | 2.45 ft | 19 ft | |
| Brazos River near Highbank, TX | No flooding | 2.25 ft | 35 ft | |
| Brazos River at SH 21 near Bryan, TX | No flooding | 7.83 ft | 52 ft | |
| Brazos River near Hempstead, TX | No flooding | 10.22 ft | 50 ft | |
| Brazos River at San Felipe, TX | No flooding | 93.26 ft | 122.5 ft | |
| Brazos River at Richmond, TX | No flooding | 8.88 ft | 45 ft | |
| Brazos River near Sugar Land, TX | No flooding | 28.26 ft | 66.5 ft | |
| Brazos River near Rosharon, TX | No flooding | 5.21 ft | 43 ft | |
| Brazos River near Graford, TX | No current data | — | — | — |
| Brazos River at FM 485 near Hearne, TX | No current data | — | — | — |
| Brazos River at Freeport, TX | No current data | — | — | — |
| Brazos River at Washington, TX | No flood stage defined | 17.15 ft | — |
About the Brazos River
The Brazos is the longest river entirely within Texas, running from the Panhandle plains across the centre of the state to the Gulf below Freeport. Its lower reaches, through Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, have a long record of prolonged, wide-spreading floods.
A long, slow-responding basin
The Brazos drains a very large and elongated watershed, so its floods build over days as runoff from upstream works its way down. Unlike the flashy Hill Country rivers, the danger here is usually duration and extent rather than speed of onset.
In the flat coastal reaches the river can spread far beyond its banks while rising relatively slowly, cutting roads and isolating communities for extended periods.
Rain that falls somewhere else
Because the basin is so long, the lower Brazos routinely rises under clear skies. Heavy rain over central Texas can produce a crest at the coast days later. Local weather is a poor guide to what the river is about to do.
This is also why the lower Brazos and Colorado can flood simultaneously: a broad rainfall event over central Texas feeds both, and in extreme cases their floodwaters have met across the coastal plain.
Reading this river
Follow the upstream gauges and the forecast crest rather than the current level. On a river this long, today's reading at your location tells you about rain that fell days ago and hundreds of miles away.
Compare each gauge with its own flood stage. Channel geometry changes dramatically between the upper basin and the coastal plain, so heights are not transferable between sites.