Floods of 1960 in the United States GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1790 This water-supply paper was published as separate chapters A and B UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director CONTENTS [The letters in parentheses preceding the titles designate separately published chapters] (A) Floods of March-April 1960 in eastern Nebraska and adjacent States, by H. D. Brice and R. E. West. (B) Summary of floods in the United States during 1960, by J. O. Rostvedt. Floods of March-April 1960 in Eastern Nebraska and Adjacent States By H. D. BRICE and R. E. WEST FLOODS OF 1960 IN THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1790-A Prepared in cooperation with the States of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota and with agencies of the Federal Government UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1965 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 75 cents (paper cover) CONTENTS Page Abstract_ _-____-________________-__----_--___-___-___-________-_ Al Introduction._____________________________________________________ 2 Climatic factors.___________--_____ + _---___---_--_-_-___-__________ 5 Precipitation. _________________________________________________ 5 Water equivalent of snow.____________________________________ 9 Temperature_ _______-___--_______---_---_-_-_-___-__________ 11 Antecedent temperatures.__________________________________ 11 Temperatures associated with the flood._.____________________ 15 Description of the floods____________-_-_--____-______--__--__-__--__ 17 Flood damage..__________ ____-_-_-______-___-_-_____-__--___-__-_ 30 Inundated areas.______________________________________________ 30 Damage to property_______________---_--__--___-____-_________ 38 Loss of life__._-__________-__-_-__-___----____--_---_________ 43 Effects of storage._____-________-____-_-____------__--__-__-_---___ 43 Sediment discharge_-_--________________-______--__-..______---_____ 44 Flood-crest profiles___________________-__-_____--_---___--_-____-_ 45 Flood volumes_____________________________________________________ 48 Flood frequency.__________________________________________________ 49 Determination of flood discharges..-.------_____-_--__-______________ 52 Explanation of data._____________________________________________ 54 Summary of flood stages and discharges_---_-_-----_-------____-____- 55 Selected references..____________---__--_-------_--___----_-________ 56 Station data___________-_______-____-__-----_-_---_--__--___-_____ 64 Index____________________________________________________________ 143 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 1. Map showing flood-data sites. __-________--_--__--____- In pocket FIGURE 1. Map showing area covered by this report -._______________ A3 2. Isohyetal map showing total precipitation, March 26-31, I960. 7 3. Isohyetal map showing total precipitation, April 1-3, 1960_._ 8 4-6. Maps showing water equivalent of snow on ground: 4. March 11, I960.____.__-_-_-___________-_-_------ 9 5. March 18, I960.-----.----------------------------- 10 6. March 25, 1960__._...____..____.....__________ 11 7. Chart showing departure from long-term mean monthly tem­ perature. ______________________________________________ 13 8. Chart showing daily temperature ranges, December 15, 1959- April 7, 1960__ _____._ _- _ - __---- --__ 14 9. Graphs showing daily maximum temperatures and time lag in temperature rise from west to east-_________________ 16 in IV CONTENTS Page FIGURES 10-1&. Graphs of discharge and gage height: 10. James and Vermillion River basins, South Di.kota. A19 11. Big Sioux River basin, South Dakota and Iowa... 21 12. Platte River basin, Nebraska____.________ 23 13. Elkhorn River basin, Nebraska _________________ 24 14. Salt Creek basin, Nebraska__________________ 25 15. Little Nemaha River basin, Nebraska ___________ 26 16. Nemaha River basin, Kansas and Nebraska------ 27 17. Little Blue River basin, Nebraska and Kansas_ _ 28 18. Big Blue River basin, Nebraska and Kansas____-- 29 19-25. Map showing area inundated by 19. Ponca Creek near Bristow, Nebr.__-----_---__-- 31 20. Ponca Creek near Lynch, Nebr_________________ 31 21. Big Sioux River near North Sioux City, S.Dak_ _ _ 32 22. Platte River near North Bend, Nebr.___________ 34 23. North Fork Elkhorn River near Pierce, Nebr._-_- 34 24. Elkhorn River and North Fork Elkhorn River near Norfolk, Nebr_.. __ _-. _-.._ _ 35 25. Elkhorn River near Hooper and Winslow, T^ebr_ 35 26. Photograph showing aerial view of flood water* from Elkhorn River in Winslow, Nebr___________________ 36 27. Map showing area inundated by Platte River and Elkhorn River near Waterloo, Nebr_____--____-____-__--___ 37 28. Photograph of remains of bridge across Niobrar"> River near Niobrara, Nebr_____-_--_--______-______.____ 38 29. Photograph showing damage to U.S. Highway 275 be­ tween Fremont and Valley, Nebr__---_-__________-_ 40 30. Photograph of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Pailroad bridge across Platte River east of Columbus, Nebr_._- 41 31-34. Profile of flood-crest elevations: 31. Vermillion River, S. Dak_______-____-_._______ 46 32. Big Sioux River, S. Dak. and Iowa____________ 46 33. Elkhorn and North Fork Elkhorn Rivers, Nebr___ 47 34. Platte River, Nebr_--_-_-_-----.---------___ 47 35-38. Graphs showing relation of peak discharge to size of drainage basin: 35. James River and Big Sioux River, S. Dak__----_. 50 36. Main stem of Platte River, Nebr___ _ __________ 51 37. In southeastern Nebraska....___________________ 52 38. In Little Blue River basin, Nebraska----__-__--.- 53 CONTENTS TABLES Page TABLE 1. Average precipitation and departure from normal, by U.S. Weather Bureau geographic divisions, for the 1959-60 snowfall season_----_---_----------------_ A6 2. Summary of flood damage, in thousands of dollars, in Missouri River basin, March-April 1960_____________ 42 3. Summary of types of flood damage, March-April 19^0. _ 43 4. Measured and total sediment discharge for selected streams in eastern Nebraska...-------------------- 45 5. Comparison of maximum discharges and maximum 20-day volumes of runoff at selected stations _______________ 48 6. Summary of flood stages and discharges --------------- 58 FLOODS OF 1960 IN THE UNITED STATES FLOODS OF MARCH-APRIL 1960 IN EASTEPN NEBRASKA AND ADJACENT STATES By H. D. BRICE and R. E. WEST ABSTRACT Snowmelt floods, record breaking on many streams and outstanding in terms of total area affected and runoff volumes generated, occurred in late March and early April 1960 on Missouri River tributaries in adjacent parts of six states. In order of area affected, the States are Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and Missouri. Five lives were lost, and the estimated damage was $14 million. Main-stem reservoirs kept Missouri River stages substantially below potential unregulated levels. Without regulation by reservoirs, the stage at Sioux City and Omaha would have been about 9 feet higher than it was and the damage would have been many millions of dollars more than actually occurred. The floods were caused by rapid melting of an extensive snow cover of unusual depth and water equivalent, augmented by light to moderate rains. Tempera­ tures almost continuously below normal, beginning in late December and cul­ minating in record lows at many places during the first half of Mar?h, resulted in the retention of record snow accumulations, much later and much farther south than normal. The snowfall in eastern Nebraska from December 27 to March 26 was about twice the annual average. The excessive srowfall and below-normal temperatures produced a record-breaking 75-day period of con­ tinuous snow cover at Omaha. A rapidly rising, eastward-moving temperature pattern late in March, in combination with an easterly orientation of many Nebraska streams, tended to magnify flood peaks. The rapid temperature rise started abou": March 18 in western Nebraska but not until March 26 in the eastern part of the State. As a consequence, flood discharges from the headwaters, often bearing heavy ice floes, arrived in the lower reaches simultaneously with or even al ?ad of the breakup of the unusually heavy ice cover and caused serious jamming. Comparisons of the peak discharges of the 1960 snowmelt floods with those of previous floods reveal several interesting facts. Peak discharges on the Mis­ souri main stem were appreciably less than those in several other years, largely because of effective reservoir control of upstream runoff, but, many tributaries throughout the report area had maximum discharges for their periods of record. Particularly significant are comparisons at some stations for which historical flood data were available. For example, the peak discharge of the Platte River at Louisville, Nebr., was the greatest since at least 18^1, and the peak on the Elkhorn River at Waterloo, Nebr., was the greatest snowmelt flood Al A2 FLOODS OF 1960 IN THE UNITED STATES since at least 1912, although it was less than half of the rain peak of June 12, 1944. Following a characteristic pattern for snowmelt floods, the peaks on the smaller streams generally were not unusual, but the cumulative effect of wide­ spread high runoff throughout the stream systems caused higher and more outstanding peaks in the larger basins. Peaks due to local rains of high inten­ sity often are more significant