MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW MAY 1948
RIVER STAGES AND FLOODS FOR MAY 1948
ELMER R. NELSON
River stages during hfay were mostly above normal in
the Coastal States along the Atlantic, the Pacific and the East Gulf of Mesico drainage areas. Stages were also
above normal in the Ohio Valley, the upper hlississippi and eastern North Dakota. The greatest negative
departures from normal of the stations tabulated mere
a t Demopolis, Ala., and Viclrsburg, hiiss., where the stages averaged 7.3 and 6.3 feet below normal, respectively.
Most severe flooding during the month developed in the Pacific Northwest during the last half of the month.
Flooding continued severe into the last decade of June The flood on the Colunibia and tributaries was the most
devastating of record although the stages generally mere
lower than the great flood of 1894. The Iiootenai River in northern Idaho exceeded the flood of 1894 a t Bonners
Ferry. Severe flooding occurred on tlie Sheyenne River in eastern North Dakota, and major flooding occurred on
the Rio Grande River in northern New hlesico. At Fairbanks, Alaska, the worst flood in 11 years was
esperienced. The Chena River rose 13 feet 4% inches from the time the ice moved on May 10 until it reached its
crest on the morning of hlay 22. One-fifth of the total area of Fairbanks was flooded. Residents were f o r d to evacuate their homes in the lowest part of the city which
was covered with water up to 10 feet. This flood resulted from unusual weather which premiled over the interior of
Alaska during April. At Fairbanks the snowfall for April measured 25.1 inches or a water equivalent of 2.30
inches. This was the greatest anioiint that had ever been measured in April during the 43 years of record. There was practically no thawing weather during April
Above normal teniperatuues during the early part of May
caused rapid melting of the snow cover over the Chena watershed.
Hudson Bay drainage.-Severe flooding occurred on the Sheyenne River, a tributary of the Red River of the
North, during the last half of April and the first half of May. The flood was due to snow melt from the vicinity
of, and north of Sheyenne, N. Dak. The river overflowed highways a t Sheyenne on April 19, crested a t Vnlley City, N. Dak., on April 27 and approached within a foot of the
record stage of 1943 a t Wrst Fargo on May 10.
I n Valley City, 35 families were evacuated because of
high water. Some flooding of farm lands resulted be-
tween Horace, N. Dah., and West Fargo in areas where banks are low. I n Cass County the flooding of 10,000
acres caused a loss to crops of about one-third of this acreage.
St. Lawrence drainage.-Light to moderate floodmg
occurred in the Lake Michigan drainage area in the upper Grand and Sagjnaw River Basins bet%-een the 10th and
15th. Rapid rises resulted when heavy rains fell during the afternoon and night of May 9 on ground that was thoroughly saturated from the heavy rains of hlarch and
April. The rains over the upper Grand Basin averaged nearly 2% inches and over the Saginnw Basin about 1 inch.
The flooding was the most severe in the Lansing, Mich., area near the confluence of the Grand and Red Cedar
Rivers. The Red Cedar crested one-half foot below the March flood a t Williamston, Mich., and 0.1 foot below,
at East Lansing, Mich. At Lansing, RIich., on the Grand River, the crest was 1.6 feet below the one in March.
Three major floods and one minor flood have occurred in
this area in 14 months. The Grand River did not over- flow below Lansing but approached within one-half foot of bankfull stage nt Ionia and Lowell, hiich., and within
2 and 3 feet a t Grand Rapids and Portland, Mich., re-
spectively. Property loss due to flood waters was negli- gible a t Owosso and Williamston, Mich. At other points, the damages were principally to growing crops and
secondary roads.
Ailantic Slope drainage.-About 7.74 inches of rain fell during the month in the vicinity of Portland, Maine,
the greatest on record for May. Nearly all the rivers and streams in Maine were brought to near bankfull
stage following the heavy rain on the 17th and 18th. Minor flooding took place along the immediate vicinity
of river bailks from the lSth to the 24th with practically
no damage. Storage reservoirs which were only one-half full a t the bpginning of the month were almost to capacity
by the 31st. River stages in New Hxmpshire remained moderately
high throughout the month. Precipitation averaged nearly twice normal with some measureable rain occurnng
on 18 to 20 days.
Heavy rains caused some overflow in Perkiomen Creek
in Pennsylvania on the 13tBh with a crcst of 10.2 feet a t FRirniount Dam nt Philadclphin. No damage resulted
other than the temporary closing of one or two sections
of the highways. There were flash floods in the Chickahoniiny River tributaries in New Kent and Charles City Counties, Va., on the 26th. hlnjor damage resulted to the Chesapeake
and Ohio railrond track and U. S. Highway No. 60, east of Winclsor Shades, Vn. One hundred twenty feet of
track fill were washed out, leaving tlie rails suspended
about 40 feet in the air. There was some damage to
crops and secondary roads in the swampy area north of
Highway No. 60. An important rise occurred in tidewater in the lower
Potomac a t Washington, D. C., on May 7 as a result of prolonged strong southeasterly winds. The highest
stage reached was 5.8 feet during high tide a t 6:48 a. m. This was 2.5 feet above normal and the highest tidal
stage resulting from wind effects since September 18, 1945. Some light ovedlows occurred in low places with no dam-
age. A slight overflow occurred on the Roanoke River a t -41ta Vista, Va., on the 14th as a result of locally heavy
rains. No damage resulted. Upper Alississippi BaRh-Ligh t to moderate flooding
occurred in the extreme upper Mississippi River a t
Aitkin and Fort Ripley, Minn., during April and May. This overflow was due to rapid snow melt and moderate
to heavy rain. The snowfall over northern Minnesota during the winter
season (November-March) was approximately 50 per-
cent above normal. The snow cover, which was affected very little by occasional thaws or evaporation during the
season, began melting during the closing days of March.
On April 8th flood stage was reached a t Aitlsin, Minn. Flooding was prolonged until May 18 by heavy rains on April 19-20 and April 22-27.
Secondary roads and approximately 15,000 acres of farm lands in Aitkin County were inundated for several
weeks. Eighty families were evacuated and livestock and titngible property moved. The greatest loss from the
high water was to prospective crops.
MAY 1948 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW 91
Arkansas Baein.-Minor flooding occurre,d on the Neo-
sho River in the vicinity of Emporia, Iians., and on the Poteau near Poteau, Okla., during the first half of May.
A second substantial rise occurred on the Neosho River below LeRoy, Kans., near the middle of the mgnth but bankfull stages were not reached.
The overflow in the Neosho River was due 'to heavy
afternoon and evening showers on May 1. (Council Grove, Okla., reported 2.14 inches.) The flooding on the
Poteau was due to an average rainfall of 3 inches on May
10-1 1.
The only damages resulting from these overflows were
along the Neosho River. Approximately 10,000 acres of farm land were inundated and considerable damage
resulted to recently planted corn. Some damage was
done to highways and bridges. Red Basin.--Heavy thundershowers which average.d 4.36 inches over the Sulphur River Basin on the lOt,h and
11th resulted in a stage of 7.4 feet above, flood stage a t Naples, Tes., on the 15th. The heaviest rainfall reported
was 6.33 inches. Moderate rains on the 16t>h-l7th and
24th-25th prolonged the high water. Rains of 2% t'o 6 inches ove,r the Cypress Basin on the
10th and 11th result,ed in flood waters of nearly 5 feet above bankfull at Je,fferson, Tes., on t>he 17th. The rain-
fall over the Little River Basin during the same period averaged 4.02 inches and resulted in minor flooding at,
Horatio and Whitecliffs, Ark. Lower Mississippi Basin.-The Ta.llahatchie. and Yazoo
Rivers continued to fall slowl;~ during the month from tdie peak crest)s reached in February and Ma.rch. The
Tallahakhie fell below flood st'age at Swan Lake, Miss., on the 1st and the kazoo at Yazoo City, Miss., on the
17th. Light flooding occurre.d on the St. Francis River at Fisk, hlo., on the 19th and 20th following the light to
heavy rain over the basin on the 16th. The heaviest
amount reported was 3.30 inches at Fredericktown, Tenn.
West Qu,lj of MeiPzi.co drainage.--Moderate rains on the
4th and 6th and heavy rains on tdie 11th and l%h over
the Sabine Basin resulted in moderate flooding at Rlineola,
Tes., and Gladewater, Tes. Considerable dama.ge oc- curred in the oilfields near Gladewater. Light to moderate flooding occurred on the Trinity
River in Texas from the llt'h to the 30th and on the East Fork from t)he 12t,h to t,he 15bh as a result of the heavy
rains over the upper Trinity River Basin on t'he 10th and 11 th. 'No damage was mported.
A major flood occurred on t,he Rio Grancle in New Mexico as a result of snow melt and heavy rainfall near
the crest dates. The highest stages sinc,e 1941 were reached at, Albuquerque and Embudo, N. &lex., and the
highest since 1942 at Otowi Bridge, San Acacia, a,nd San
Marcial, N. h4es. Columbia Basin.-During the latt,er pa.rt of Mn.y and
continuing into June, flood stages occurred in the Colum-
bia River Basin, which, within the period of record. were exceeded only by the gre,at flood of 1894; at Bonne.rs
Ferry, Iclaho, the stage of the Kootenai River esc,eeded
that flood. A critical feature of the flood, in addition to the estser~~elg high stages, was t8he long duration of t,he flood stages at Portland, Oreg. ; flood stage was exceeded
on May 22 and the river was still above the flood level on June 30. In addition the Portland stsage remained above the 29-fOOt stage for about 15 days. The flood may be attributed to the combination of the following factors: (1) An abnormally high accumulation
of snow in the basin. (2) Low temperatures in the early
spring followed by an abrupt change to excessively high
temperatures over the entire basin in the late spring. (3) Heavy rains coincident with the high tempe.ratures.
Precipitation over the basin from October 1947 through
April 1945, averaged well above normal except over the upper portion of the Snake River Basin in southern
Idaho. The cent'ral portion of the Columbia Basin, in northern Idaho and adjoining port,ions of e.astern Wash-
ington and western Montana, had as much as 150 percent
of the normal precipitation for that period. The possibi- lities of a major flood in the upper Columbia became evi-
dent from the winter accumulation of precipitation as
early as March 1, as indicated in the issue of the Water
Supply Forecast bulletin on that date. The increase in the flood hazard, extending along the entire main st,em of the Columbia, was noted in subsequent issues of the bulle-
tin on April 1 and May 1. With the exception of one week in April, temperatures were below normal from
March until about May 15, retarding normal melting during April and early hhy. Above normal precipitation
in the first half of May also accentuated the accumulation of snow on the ground.
By mid-hIay, a low pressure system over northern Cali- fornia and a high pressure ridge to the east induced a
flow of warm moist air over the basin. The high tem-
peratures were general over the entire basin and estended
to high elevations, leading to nearly simultaneous melting from all portions of the area. These high temperatures
prevailed during the last half of May and the first of
Juii e. Heavy rains with considerable thunderstorm activit
also prevailed during this period. For the entire mont of May, precipitation amounts were generally excessive
with as much as 450 perce,nt of normal over the main Columbia above the Snake River, and over 200 percent
of normal in much of the basin except in the Snake River
basin. The precipitation was excessive in both halves of May, being mainly in form of snow in the first half.
Heavy rains continued well into June. For the first 3
weeks of June, precipitation esceecled 500 percent of
normal in eastern Washin ton and well above normal in
Provisioiial data indicate that the Columbia River at Portland reached a first crest of over 29.9 feet on June 1
and remained above 29 feet until June 16, with a high
stage of near 30 feet on June 13-14, compared to a stage of about 33 feet in 1894. The Kootenai River at Bonners
Ferry, Idaho, crested at 35.3 feet on May 29, exceeding the 34 foot stage established there in 1894. The eatest
Ore.g., due to a break in the levee. In addition to the loss
of life a t Vanport, many lives were lost in other parts of the basin. On the basis of lives lost and property damage, this flood doubtless is the most disastrous in the history of
the basin. A more complete report of this flood will be
given in a later issue of the Review.
much of the remainder of t% e basin.
single disaster of this flood was the inundation of $ anport,
92 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW MAY 1948
FLOOD STAGE REPORT FOR MAY 1948
[All dates in Ma
ST. LAWRENCE DRAINAGE
h k c hfichigan
Red Cedar: Willismston. Mi& ............... East Lansing, Mich .............. Qrand: Lansing. Mi& ...............
L d e Huron
Ehiawassee: Owmso, Mich __________
~
ATLANTIC SLOPE DRAINAGE
Kennebec: Augusta, Maine .......... Sus uehanna:
Roanoke: Alta Vista, Va.. .......... Ormulgce: Lumber City, Cia ........
%neonta, N. Y ................... Vestal, N. Y .....................
MlS41SSIPPI SYSTEM
Upper Miasissippi Bmin
Pecatonim: Frepport. 111 ............ Rock: Molinc, 111 .................... &Iississippi: Aitkin. Minu ................. Fort Ripley. Minn ..............
Louisiana, Ma.. - _. -. .- -. -. - __ - - -
Missouri Baain
James: Huron, 6. Dak ............... Republicrm: Benkelman, Nebr. __ ______ __ .-.-.
Cambridge, Nebr-.-. ............
Ohio Baain
Sdoto: LaRue, Ohio ................. Wabash: Wabash, Ind .....................
Lafayette, h d ..................
Covington, Ind. .................
Terre Haute, Ind. ...............
Tennessee: Kentucky Dam, Ky . . -.
Ohio:
Mount Vernon, Ind ..............
Dam No. 49, Uniontown, Ky __._
Shawneetown, Ill. ...............
Dam No. 50, Fords Ferry, Ky- -
Dam No. 52, Brookport, Ill ......
Dam No. 53, ncar Mound City, I11
Cairo, Ill ........................
Arkanem Basin
Neosho: Emporia, Kans ............. Poteau: Poteau, Okla ................
Red Basin
Little: Whit.ecllffs, Ark _____
~
________
Sulphur: Hagensport, Ter-. - __ __ _____ __ -
Naples, Tez. - ____________________ Cypress: Jefferson, Tex ______________
tnlass otherwise specified]
- -
Flood stnge
Fect 7 8 11
7
13
12
14 10 12
in in
12 IO
12
9
5
5
11
12
11
16
14
31
35
37
33
34
37
42
40
20 21
25
38
22 18
Lbove flood stages- datcs
From-
10 10 11
10
19
17 24 14 Apr. 1
11 13
Apr. R Apr. 26 Apr. 1 4
Apr. 1
23 24 30
15
8 8 13
10
14
14
Mar. 24
Mar. 3s
Mar. 29
Mar. 26
Mar. 24
Mar. 21
Mar. 23
Mar. 22
2 12
14
11
12 16
-
TO-
-
14 15 14
15
19
16 24 14 Apr. 30
17
22
1R
6 2 19
Apr. 6
3
24
(9
15
9 10 16 10
17 19
Apr. 30
Apr. 30
Apr. 30
2
2
1
2
2
3
14
18
18
20 3a
Crest 1
Stage
-
FMt IO. 2 11.2 13.2
8.0
15.0
12.5
14. 1
10.5 18.8
11. 2 10. I
15.8 10. 7 12.2 12.6
13.9
5. 1 5.5 6. 6
11.4
15.3 14.0 14.5 16.6 13. 1
15. 2 40.7 39. 2 41.3
41. 4
47. 1 43.7 49. fi
44.1 50. 4 46.9 52.9
44.7
4s. 5 51.6 50.2 51.6 47.3
47.9
26.5 25 6
26.0
41.0 40.1 29.4 22.8
Date
10 11 12
in
19
17
24 14 Apr. 3
13
15. IT
Apr. 2R
Apr. 3n 2 14
Apr. 1
23
24 30
15
8 9
I4
10 15 17 Apr. 2 Apr. 16 Apr. 24- 25 Apr. 4 Apr. 23 Apr. 5 Apr. 24 Apr. 5 4pr. 24 Apr. 5 Apr. 3- 24 Apr. 4 bpr. 24 Apr. 2 Apr. 24
-4pr. 3 Apr. If- 17 Apr. 23-
25
3 13
15
12 18
15
17
FLOOD STAGE REPORT FOR MAY 1948-Con.
River and station
MISSISSPPI SYSTEM- CmtinUed
Lower Afissiasippi Baain
St. Frnncis: Fisk, Mo ............... Tallahatchie: Swan Lake, Miss. .....
Yazoo: Tazoo City, Miss. -. -. .-.~ ___
Mississippi: New Madrid. hlo ...............
Caruthersvlllc, Mo ...............
.4ilchafnlayn Baain
A trhafalaya: h i ~l i ille. La ...................
A t.charalzys. LS.. ................
VEST GULF OF MESIC0 DRAINAGE
Sahine: hIineola, Teu ....................
Glsdemater. Ter. ............... East. Fork: Rockwall. Tex ........... Trioitr: Kosscr, Ter. ......................
Trinidad. Ter .................... Long Lake, Tex .................. Liberty, Tea. .................... Rio Grande: Lobatos Bridge, Cola .............
Espanola. N. Mex ................ Otowi Bridge, N. Mex ........... Albuquerque. N. Max ................
Emhudo, N. Mer ................
GULP OP CALIFORNI.4 DRAINAQE
Culorado Basin
Qunnison: Delta, Colo ...............
Anima: Durango, Cola ..............
PACIFX SLOPE DRAINAGE
Columbia Basin hootenai:
Flathead:
L I V L ~~, hfout ..................... Bonners Ferry, Idaho ............
Cohimbia Falls, Mont .__________
Somers, Mont .................... Polson. hiont.. .................. Clark Fork: St. Regis. Mont ......... St. Joe: Colder. Idaho. ................... fit. Maries. Idaho.. .............. Cocur d Alene: Cataldo, Idaho.. ................. Coeur dAlme Lake. Idaho. .____.
Spokane: Spokane, Wash. ........... Willamette: Portland, Oreg .......... Clearwater: Kamiah. Idaho ..........
Snake: Lewiston, Idnho .............. Columhia:
~~~~
Boundary, Wash ................. Umatilis. Orcg.. ___._ _.___ ___ __ -. The Dalies. Orcg ................. Vancouver, Wash _____ - - __ ___ - -.
1 Provisional. : Continued at end of month.
- -
Flood stage
-
Feel 20 26
29
34
32
37
25
14 26 10
26 28
40
24
1
8 7 9
4
11
4
18 31
13.2 93 15.6 17
87 35
40 30
n 18 14 22
32 25 51 15
-
.how flood stages- dates
-
From-
19
Mar. 1
Mar. 1
Mar. 25
Mar. 25
Apr. 17
Feb. 26
11 13 12
11 12 15 22
19 22 21 27 25
19
5 16
25 23
19 26 25 21
18 19
8 1 23 22
29
27 27 22 19
zn
-
___
TO-
Crest
-
t8KC
-
Fret 20.6 30.1 35.6
35.6 35.6 35.4 40.5 37.3
37.6
39 3
37.3
26.9
27.3
18.5 35.4 17.1
27.8 34.0 44.2 ZG1
7.3 12.3 8.7 9.3 4.8
12.4 12 3 4.9 7.2
19.6 35.3
19.5
20.6
89.0 39.2
42.6
36.0 28.3
21. 2 22 8
30.5
___.
___.
-__.
___.
____ -___
-
19 Mar. 21 Mar. 1%-
20 Mar. 23 Apr. 9
Apr. 14
Apr. 3-5 Apr. 17- 18 Apr. 24- 26 Apr. 4 4
Apr. 21- 22 Mar. 13- 18 Apr. 21-
29
14,15 18 12
12 15 8 7
26 27 27 27 28
20 22 7 20
28 29
23
24
28 30
25,2fi 30 30,31
29 29
30-31
- -. - - - - - - - - - -. - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
- - -_ - - - - - - - - - - - - - -