<p>My house elevation is 9.1 feet above sea level, according to all "expert" measurements. That includes the city, county, state, Feds, and all insurers. It seems about right to me. But then again, I cannot dunk.</p>

<p>I live a half mile or so from the beach and bay of mustang island.</p>

<p>Anyhoo, the static water level In my hood was 2-3 feet and a little less inside my first floor. That puts it at around 10-12 feet. </p>

<p>It's a real thing.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T07:24:42.927Z
This is only *one* data point; it does not answer the more general *Does anyone know this or where to find it*?
Jan Doggen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T11:52:08.293Z
Agreed, but I'm still accepting the answer as it's at least a very real data point.  u-surge.net does have some interesting info: https://www.u-surge.net/hurricane-harvey.html
Oliver Williams
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T13:56:53.873Z
This is likely not storm surge, but rather a combination of flooding and surge
arkaia
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T17:22:32.840Z
Individual experience is certainly useful, though a compilation does tell us more.
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T04:30:59.430Z
2017-09-20T04:30:59.430Z
Serge
<p>For a general view of the surge in the region, the maps in <a href="https://www.u-surge.net/hurricane-harvey.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">u-surge</a> give a pretty good idea of numbers and more affected regions.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://stn.wim.usgs.gov/fev/#HarveyAug2017" rel="nofollow noreferrer">USGS</a> provides a comprehensive view of High Water Marks (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_water_mark" rel="nofollow noreferrer">HWM</a>) in the entire region. If you are looking for observations, then the HWM database gives you the best spatial coverage. While HWM do not provide surge information per se as it includes multiple processes (like ocean <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_surge" rel="nofollow noreferrer">surge</a> from the storm, waves and wave run-up, and flooding from rivers and precipitation), it gives an idea of the extreme values of water level in many locations. It also shows the large spatial variability of the effects of the storm. There are also tide gauge and rapid response stations in the area as part of the USGS database that provides more information of the temporal evolution of water levels. </p>

<p>Part of the problem is that storm surge is only the result of two processes: 1) wind piling water against the coast and 2) low atmospheric pressure that causes ocean level to go up. Additionally, you have many other processes affecting water levels during a storm or hurricane. The tides are still there as always and that adds complications because if the storm surge peak occurs during high tide, then the impacts are much worse. Tides in the Gulf of Mexico are not that high, but they can be a much larger factors in some other areas. The combination of storm surge and astronomical tides is often label "storm tide", which is a very poor name choice and leads to much confusion, as clearly the storm does not cause a tide. Another impact is that associated with the high winds, you have large <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_height" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wave heights</a>. As these high waves approach the coast, they cause higher water levels as a result of <a href="http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~chinwu/GLE401/web/Mike/Wave%20runup.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wave run-up</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_setup" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wave setup</a>. The magnitude of these wave effects can be pretty large in some locations especially in ocean-facing locations. The last main impact on water level is precipitation and the resulting increase river discharge. Clearly, Harvey had a catastrophic <a href="https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/12159/how-can-a-storm-drop-40-inches-1-metre-of-rain">amount of precipitation</a> and its impacts were much larger than the purely oceanic-driven storm surge in this storm.</p>

<p>Many agencies are working on developing a measure of water level that includes all these processes. For instance a good example is the USGS effort to develop <a href="https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/research/operational-models.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Total Water Level</a> measurements and <a href="https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/research/twlviewer/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">forecast</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T14:31:05.903Z
2017-09-20T14:31:05.903Z
arkaia
<p>The numbers bandied about have been 3.6 m (12 feet) and even 4.6 m (15 feet), but something told me that was unlikely.  As a guy who could "almost" slam dunk a basketball, the idea of a 3 m (10 feet) surge (height of a basketball goal) is formidable.  4-5 m (12-15 feet) is terrifying.</p>

<p>However, I have not found any statements on how high the storm surged ocean-wise.  I've seen plenty of homes wiped off of their foundations from wind, but if you look carefully homes right next to them are still quite intact.  My guess is the max "surge" was less than 1 m (&lt;2 feet). Does anyone know this or where to find it?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-27T21:13:42.790Z
Looking for reported numbers. Surge was already at 2ft Friday Morning well ahead of landfall. The 8+ foot estimates we're for a small section of coast closest to the eye. Not sure how high the seawall in Port lavaca is, but surge was lapping above it Friday evening 4 hours ahead of landfall.
casey
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-27T21:23:44.403Z
https://www.weather.gov/crp/tides high levels (preliminary) for buouys at Port Aransas and Port Lavaca were around 6 and 7.5 ft respectively. Includes tide, so isn't directly the surge value.
casey
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-28T13:57:51.887Z
Tidal range is low on the Texas Gulf Coast - only a foot or so. The forecast was around 9-10ft - and of course more on the east side of Rockport (landfall) than the south-west (where some points recorded negative surge).
winwaed
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T07:26:32.190Z
[u-surge.net has some info](https://www.u-surge.net/hurricane-harvey.html)
Jan Doggen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-20T19:31:55.463Z
Please note that metric/SI units are required on this site. You can keep the old-fashioned units, but metric conversions should also be included.  https://earthscience.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/318/is-the-imperial-measurement-system-still-used-in-the-geosciences
arkaia
<tropical-cyclone><tides><storms><flooding>
What was the storm surge height from Hurricane Harvey?
Oliver Williams
# What was the storm surge height from Hurricane Harvey?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-27)

The numbers bandied about have been 3.6 m (12 feet) and even 4.6 m (15 feet), but something told me that was unlikely. As a guy who could "almost" slam dunk a basketball, the idea of a 3 m (10 feet) surge (height of a basketball goal) is formidable. 4-5 m (12-15 feet) is terrifying.

However, I have not found any statements on how high the storm surged ocean-wise. I've seen plenty of homes wiped off of their foundations from wind, but if you look carefully homes right next to them are still quite intact. My guess is the max "surge" was less than 1 m (<2 feet). Does anyone know this or where to find it?

**Tags:** tropical-cyclone, tides, storms, flooding

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Looking for reported numbers. Surge was already at 2ft Friday Morning well ahead of landfall. The 8+ foot estimates we're for a small section of coast closest to the eye. Not sure how high the seawall in Port lavaca is, but surge was lapping above it Friday evening 4 hours ahead of landfall.  
> **username_1**: https://www.weather.gov/crp/tides high levels (preliminary) for buouys at Port Aransas and Port Lavaca were around 6 and 7.5 ft respectively. Includes tide, so isn't directly the surge value.  
> **username_2**: Tidal range is low on the Texas Gulf Coast - only a foot or so. The forecast was around 9-10ft - and of course more on the east side of Rockport (landfall) than the south-west (where some points recorded negative surge).  
> **username_3**: [u-surge.net has some info](https://www.u-surge.net/hurricane-harvey.html)  
> **username_4**: Please note that metric/SI units are required on this site. You can keep the old-fashioned units, but metric conversions should also be included.  https://earthscience.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/318/is-the-imperial-measurement-system-still-used-in-the-geosciences  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-09-20. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

My house elevation is 9.1 feet above sea level, according to all "expert" measurements. That includes the city, county, state, Feds, and all insurers. It seems about right to me. But then again, I cannot dunk.

I live a half mile or so from the beach and bay of mustang island.

Anyhoo, the static water level In my hood was 2-3 feet and a little less inside my first floor. That puts it at around 10-12 feet.

It's a real thing.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: This is only *one* data point; it does not answer the more general *Does anyone know this or where to find it*?  
> **username_0**: Agreed, but I'm still accepting the answer as it's at least a very real data point.  u-surge.net does have some interesting info: https://www.u-surge.net/hurricane-harvey.html  
> **username_4**: This is likely not storm surge, but rather a combination of flooding and surge  
> **username_6**: Individual experience is certainly useful, though a compilation does tell us more.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-09-20. Score: 3

For a general view of the surge in the region, the maps in [u-surge](https://www.u-surge.net/hurricane-harvey.html) give a pretty good idea of numbers and more affected regions.

The [USGS](https://stn.wim.usgs.gov/fev/#HarveyAug2017) provides a comprehensive view of High Water Marks ([HWM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_water_mark)) in the entire region. If you are looking for observations, then the HWM database gives you the best spatial coverage. While HWM do not provide surge information per se as it includes multiple processes (like ocean [surge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_surge) from the storm, waves and wave run-up, and flooding from rivers and precipitation), it gives an idea of the extreme values of water level in many locations. It also shows the large spatial variability of the effects of the storm. There are also tide gauge and rapid response stations in the area as part of the USGS database that provides more information of the temporal evolution of water levels.

Part of the problem is that storm surge is only the result of two processes: 1) wind piling water against the coast and 2) low atmospheric pressure that causes ocean level to go up. Additionally, you have many other processes affecting water levels during a storm or hurricane. The tides are still there as always and that adds complications because if the storm surge peak occurs during high tide, then the impacts are much worse. Tides in the Gulf of Mexico are not that high, but they can be a much larger factors in some other areas. The combination of storm surge and astronomical tides is often label "storm tide", which is a very poor name choice and leads to much confusion, as clearly the storm does not cause a tide. Another impact is that associated with the high winds, you have large [wave heights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_height). As these high waves approach the coast, they cause higher water levels as a result of [wave run-up](http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~chinwu/GLE401/web/Mike/Wave%20runup.htm) and [wave setup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_setup). The magnitude of these wave effects can be pretty large in some locations especially in ocean-facing locations. The last main impact on water level is precipitation and the resulting increase river discharge. Clearly, Harvey had a catastrophic [amount of precipitation](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/12159/how-can-a-storm-drop-40-inches-1-metre-of-rain) and its impacts were much larger than the purely oceanic-driven storm surge in this storm.

Many agencies are working on developing a measure of water level that includes all these processes. For instance a good example is the USGS effort to develop [Total Water Level](https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/research/operational-models.php) measurements and [forecast](https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/research/twlviewer/).


---

