Texas Gulf Coast
Texas City Water Temperature
Five miles of rock into upper Galveston Bay, with bank access the whole way out.
That is about 5°F warmer than average for this time of year, and holding steady over the last two weeks. The October average here is 80°F.
Updated Friday, October 2 — sea-surface temperature modeled for Texas City by Open-Meteo.
Out in the open Gulf, NOAA buoy 42035 — 31 miles offshore — is reading 86°F. Deep water offshore runs cooler than the shallows in summer and warmer in winter, so it won't match the beach.
For swimming
Very warm
Bath-warm. Pleasant, though it stops being much relief from the heat of the day.
For fishing
Hot — fish the edges of the day
Early and late is the play. Through the middle of the day fish drop into deeper channels and passes where there's moving water and more oxygen.
The last two weeks
Daily average sea-surface temperature, °F.
Texas City water temperature by month
Averaged from 3 years of daily sea-surface temperature (2023–2025). The range column is the coolest and warmest daily average recorded in that month over the period — a guide to how much any given year can differ, not a record high and low.
| Month | Average | Range | Swimming |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 50–65°F | Cold |
| February | 59°F | 55–65°F | Cold |
| March | 66°F | 59–72°F | Bracing |
| April | 73°F | 69–78°F | Cool but comfortable |
| May | 80°F | 73–84°F | Warm |
| June | 85°F | 83–87°F | Very warm |
| July | 87°F | 85–89°F | Very warm |
| August | 89°F | 86–91°F | Bath water |
| September | 86°F | 81–89°F | Very warm |
| Octobernow | 80°F | 74–85°F | Warm |
| November | 72°F | 63–78°F | Cool but comfortable |
| December | 63°F | 57–69°F | Bracing |
Warmest on average in August at 89°F; coolest in January at 57°F.
The water at Texas City
The Texas City Dike runs five miles straight into upper Galveston Bay, which makes it one of the longest pieces of public fishing access on the Gulf coast — drive out, park, and cast into open bay water without owning a boat. Trout and redfish work the rocks on both sides, black drum and sheepshead hold tight to the structure, and the flats along the dike give up fish on a warm incoming tide. Families crab, picnic, and launch kayaks off the same stretch, which is part of why it is a Galveston County institution. Sitting up-bay, it takes the freshwater push from the Trinity and the wake of ship channel traffic, so water color swings fast; winter fronts stack fish in the deeper holes near the channel.
the Dike & upper Galveston Bay
What moves the water temperature here
The Gulf shelf off this coast is shallow, which is why the water swings so much more between summer and winter than open ocean at the same latitude does. Shallow water heats fast and gives that heat up fast: a single strong winter cold front can pull the inshore bays several degrees down in a couple of days, while the beaches a mile offshore barely move. Wind direction matters too — a sustained offshore breeze can pull cooler water up from below and drop the beach temperature noticeably in a morning.
Inshore bays, canals and flats run warmer than the beach through the summer and colder through the winter, for the same reason. The reading above is for the open water at Texas City; expect the back bays to be a few degrees either side of it depending on the season.
Common questions
- What is the water temperature at Texas City right now?
- The water at Texas City is currently about 85°F (30°C). The October average here is 80°F.
- Is the water warm enough to swim at Texas City in October?
- October averages 80°F at Texas City, which most people would call warm. About as good as it gets — warm enough to stay in for hours without getting chilled.
- When is the water warmest at Texas City?
- August is the warmest month on average at 89°F, and January the coolest at 57°F. 6 months of the year average 75°F or above.
- Why does the water temperature change so quickly here?
- The Gulf shelf off this coast is shallow, so it heats and cools far faster than deep open ocean. A strong winter cold front can pull the inshore water down several degrees in a couple of days, and a sustained offshore wind can drop beach temperatures in a single morning by pulling cooler water up from below.