Floods of May-June 1953 in Missouri River Basin in Montana
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Floods of May-June 1953 in Missouri River Basin in Montana FLOODS OF 1953 Prepared under the direction of J. V. B. WELLS, Chief, Surface Water Branch GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1320-B Prepared in cooperation with the Montana State Engineer, agencies of the Federal Government, and the Dominion of Canada UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1957 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FRED A. SEATON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price 50 cents (paper cover) PREFACE This report on the floods of 1953 in central and northern Mon tana was prepared by the Geological Survey, Water Resources Di vision, C.G. Paulsen, chief, under the general direction of J. V. B. Wells, chief, Surface Water Branch. The field work and the collection and tabulation of basic infor mation relating to stage and discharge were done by the staff of the Helena district office of the Surface Water Branch under the super vision of Frank Stermitz, district engineer. Valuable assistance to the field and office work was given by R. E. Oltman, hydraulic engineer. The gaging stations on South Fork Milk River near the interna tional boundary, North Fork Milk River above St. Mary Canal near Browning, St. Mary Canal at Hudson Bay Divide near Browning, North Fork Milk River near the international boundary, Milk River at Milk River, Alberta, and Milk River at the eastern crossing of the international boundary are maintained jointly by the United States Geological Survey and the Water Resources Division, Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Canada, under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 or under subsequent agreement between the two countries. The collection of basic records of stage and discharge in the area described in this report is a part of a continuous cooperative pro gram with the Montana State Engineer; the Corps of Engineers, De partment of the Army; and the Department of State. Special finan cial assistance was given by the Corps of Engineers for the indirect determination of discharge at four sites, and discharge measure ments of the Milk River at Havre. Acknowledgement is made to the following agencies for data fur nished: the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Weather Bureau, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Montana State Water Conservation Board, the Pondera County Canal and Reser voir Co., and the Montana Power Co. Ill CONTENTS Page Abstract........................................................ 69 Introduction..................................................... 69 General description of the floods .................................. 70 Meteorologic and hydrologic features of the flood ................... 81 Flood damage.................................................... 87 Measurement of flood discharge................................... 89 Stages and discharges at stream-gaging stations..................... 89 Explanation of data ............................................ 89 Missouri River at Toston....................................... 93 Prickly Pear Creek near Clancy............................... 94 Tenmile Creek near Rimini.................................. 95 Tenmile Creek near Helena ................................. 96 Missouri River below Holter Dam, near Wolf Creek .............. 96 Dearborn River near demons ................................ 97 Dearborn River near Craig ................................... 98 Missouri River at Cascade ..................................... 90 Smith River: Newland Creek near White Sulphur Springs ................... 99 Newland Creek near dam site, near White Sulphur Springs...... 100 Sheep Creek near White Sulphur Springs ...................... 101 Smith River near Eden.,..................................... 101 Missouri River above Sun River, at Great Falls .................. 102 North Fork of North Fork Sun River near Augusta............... 103 North Fork Sun River near Augusta ........................... 105 Sun River at Simms.......................................... 106 Muddy Creek at Vaughn ..................................... 107 Sun River near Vaughn ....................................... 108 Sun River at Great Falls ..................................... 109 Missouri River below Morony Dam .............................. HO Belt Creek near Monarch .................................... HI Missouri River at Fort Benton .................................. 112 Two Medicine River (head of Marias River) near Browning....... 113 Badger Creek near Browning ...............,,........... ,\ ... 114 Cut Bank Creek at Cut Bank................................. 115 Marias River near Shelby << ..................................H6 Marias River near Brinkman ................................. 117 Teton River near Farmington ............................... 119 Missouri River at Loma........................................ 120 Judith River near Utica ...................................... 121 Ross Fork near Hobson ..................................... 122 Big Spring Creek near Lewistown ............................ 123 Wolf Creek near Stanford.................................... 123 Missouri River at powerplant ferry, near Zortman ............... 124 VI CONTENTS Page Musselshell River at Mosby ................................. 125 Dry Creek near Van Norman ................................ 125 Fort Peck Reservoir at Fort Peck ............................... 126 Missouri River below Fort Peck Dam ............................ L27 South Fork Milk River near international boundary. .............. 127 North Fork Milk River above St. Mary Canal, near Browning. 128 St. Mary Canal at Hudson Bay divide, near Browning ........ 129 North Fork Milk River near international boundary ............ 130 Milk River at Milk River, Alberta, Canada ..................... 131 Milk River at eastern crossing of international boundary. ......... 132 Milk River below Fresno Dam, near Havre ..................... 133 Big Sandy Creek near Assinniboine. .......................... 134 Milk River at Havre .......................................... 135 Milk River at Nashua ......................................... 136 Wolf Creek near Wolf Point ................................... 137 Missouri River near Wolf Point. .................................. 138 Reservoirs in flood area. May - July, 1953 ......................... 140 Summary of flood stages and discharges ............................ 143 Records of previous floods ........................................ 149 Literature cited ................................................. 151 Index ........................................................... 153 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Plate 3. Map showing location of flood-determination points and snow-survey courses. .......................... In pocket 4. Isohyetal map of Montana showing total precipitation during storm period May 23 to June 4, 1953. ...... In pocket Figure 13. Map showing outline of area covered by this report. ....... 71 14. Bridge on U. S. 91 across Stickney Creek collapsed dur ing June flood ...................................... 73 15. Aerial view of Belt on June 4 showing inundation along Belt Creek......................................... 75 16. Otter Creek bridge on U. S. 89 destroyed by flood ......... 76 17. Highwood Creek showing destruction of railroad crossing at Highwood........................................ 77 18. Highwood Creek showing scour in channel and damage to adjacent buildings................................... 78 19. Aerial view of north Havre on June 6 before Milk River reached its crest ................................... 80 20. Graph showing accumulated rainfall at five weather stations, May 23 to June 4, 1953. ..................... 86 CONTENTS VII Page Figure 21. Graphs of discharges at gaging stations on Missouri River, May 23 to June 15, 1953..................... 91 22. Graphs of discharges at gaging stations on principal tributaries of Missouri River in flood areas, May 23 to June 15, 1953 ............................... 92 23. Relation of unit discharge to size of drainage basin..... 148 TABLES Page Table 1. Snow-survey data for headwater regions, Montana, 1953..... ....................'..................... 83 2. Daily precipitation totals at selected weather stations in the flood area, May 23 to June 4, 1953............ 86 3. Rural flood damage by basins, Montana, 1953 .......... 88 4. Urban flood damage by basins, Montana, 1953 .......... 88 5. Summary of flood stages and discharges in Montana during floods of 1953 .............................. 144 FLOODS OF 1953 FLOODS OF MAY-JUNE 1953 IN MISSOURI RIVER BASIN IN MONTANA ABSTRACT The floods of May-June 1953 in the Missouri River basin in Montana exceeded previously known floods in a somewhat localized area south and east of the city of Great Falls, and in a large surrounding area approached the disastrous flood of June 1908. From the standpoint of monetary loss the floods of 1953 were record breaking, with damage exceeding $8, 600, 000 in 15 counties. The operation of irrigation and flood-control reservoirs did much to reduce flood peaks and dam ages. No direct loss of life was reported. The flood was caused by a series of heavy rains from May 23 to June 4, aug mented on some streams by delayed snowmeltfrom mountain areas. The persis tent and heavy rains repeated a storm pattern that occurred in 1908 and that has been a basic cause of other floods of a