A new method for the prediction of maximum flood stage discharges in real time that does not rely on rainfall data has been developed for the Brays Bayou drainageway in Houston, Texas. A study of 21 historical storm discharge hydrographs revealed information contained within the rising limb of the hydrograph that could be used to predict the magnitude of the peak flow in the channel with an approximate one hour lead time. A correlation has been observed between the flow that occurs in the channel at a time following the time of slope inflection on the rising limb of the hydrograph and the peak flow. A HEC-1 model has been calibrated to the watershed using two recently occurring storms. This model was used to substantiate the observed correlation through simulated hydrographs using 264 hypothetical rainfall scenarios.