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<br />00213~
<br />
<br />50
<br />
<br />Kansas State Board of Agriculture
<br />
<br />SOME HYDROLOGIC FEATURES OF THE NEOSHO
<br />BASIN
<br />
<br />By W. E. STE:PS
<br />RAINFALL
<br />
<br />Rainfall records have been kept in Kansas for many years. The
<br />longest period of record in southeastern Kansas is that at Inde-
<br />pendence, beginning in 1872. The record at Yates Center wa~
<br />,tarted in 1880, with Emporia following a year later. The Lebo
<br />station was established in 1887, 08wego in 1890, and Burlington in
<br />1894. Table I lists annual rainfall for stations in the Neosho basin
<br />and vicinity and gives the number of years that records have been
<br />kept at each location. The record is not continuous at all stations.
<br />The fluctuations from year to year of rainfall conditions over the
<br />basin are indicated by a comparison of the average of annual
<br />amounts reported at all the stations shown in Table 1. These an-
<br />nual averages since 1880 have been plotted in Figure 1. The average
<br />annual rainfall in the Neosho basin for the period of record is 35.48
<br />inches. It was high in 1902, 1915 and 1941 with a maximum of
<br />51.2 inches in 1915. The year 1941 was next with an average of
<br />51.1 for all the stations listed. Low annual rainfall occurred in
<br />1901, 1917, 1936 and 1939, the most extreme of which was that of
<br />1936 when the average for the basin was but 23.4 inches. Studies
<br />based on the information at hand indicate that the probable range
<br />in annual rainfall for the basin may vary from 20 to about 54
<br />inches.
<br />The average of annual amounts of rainfall at an individual station
<br />is a criterion of the normal rainfall to be exp€cted during a year
<br />at that location. These annual averages for the period of record at
<br />each station are plotted on a map of the Neosho basin in Figure 2.
<br />While this analysis shows definite decreases in the annual rainfall
<br />from the southeastern to the northwestern part of the basin, yet
<br />the amounts of rainfall for any given year follow this pattern only
<br />in a very general way.
<br />The greatest annual rainfall recorded at any station in the Neosho
<br />basin was 65.31 inches at Burlington in 1941. In 1915, 65.04 inches
<br />of rain fell at Le Roy. Several other stations have reported more
<br />than 60 inches of rainfall during one calendar year.
<br />Most of the minimum amounts of annual rainfall given in Table I
<br />were recorded in 1936, during which year only 15.98 inches fell at
<br />Neosho Rapids.
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