FLOOD PEAKS FROM SMALL SOUTHWEST RANGE WATERSHED

RUNOFF ON THE 67-SQUARE-MILE ALAMOGORDO CREEK EXPERIMENTAL WATERSHED IN NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO IS GENERATED FROM STORM PRECIPITATION WITH GREATLY DIFFERING CHARACTERISTICS. THE LARGEST PEAK DISCHARGES OCCURRED FROM A COMBINATION OF CONVECTIVE HEATING AND WEAK SUMMER COLD FRONTS. THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN FRONTAL SYSTEMS HAVE PRODUCED LARGE PEAK DISCHARGES AND RUNOFF VOLUMES, WHEREAS THE LONG-DURATION SUMMER FRONTAL STORMS HAVE PRODUCED APPRECIABLE VOLUMES OF RUNOFF, BUT MUCH LOWER PEAK DISCHARGES. FOR A STORM DURATION OF LESS THAN SIX HOURS, THE POINT PRECIPITATION FREQUENCIES APPEAR TO BE HIGHER THAN THOSE PUBLISHED BY THE U.S. WEATHER BUREAU. THE DATA SHOW THE IMPORTANCE OF WATERSHED RAINFALL VALUES AS COMPARED TO SINGLE POINT VALUES. THE FIVE LARGEST RUNOFF EVENTS DURING THE 14-YEAR RECORD ARE COMPARED AND DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO PRECIPITATION DIFFERENCES. BY EXTRAPOLATION OF THE AVAILABLE DATA, USING A LOG-NORMAL FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION, THE 20-YEAR FLOOD WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 8,700 CFS. /ASCE/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 96, No HY 3, PROC PAPER 7161, PP 773-785, 8 FIG, 7 TAB,
• Authors:
  • Renard, K G
  • Drissel, J C
  • Osborn, H B
• Publication Date: 1970-3

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Journal of the Hydraulics Division
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Floods; Frequency distributions; Rainfall; Runoff; Storms; Time; Watersheds
• Uncontrolled Terms: Flood peaks; Rainfall intensity
• Old TRIS Terms: Discharge rate; Precipitation; Time factor
• Subject Areas: Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204278
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 19 1970 12:00AM