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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />Most of the area of interest, where the gauges were installed, <br />lies in the higher elevations (above 7000 feet) of the Arizona <br />Mogollon Rim country. Precipitation records, from cooperative <br />observers, are available at some locations within the area <br />(mostly Forest Service Ranger Stations). Unfortunately, they <br />do not have published departures from normal. Consequently, <br />while it is possible to compare the precipitation amounts <br />collected at the network gauges during the field season with <br />other gauges nearby, it is not possible to determine how represen- <br />tative the field season precipitation was to that of other <br />years. <br /> <br />The most representative precipitation gauge that is available <br />for comparison is the gauge at the Flagstaff Airport. This <br />site, at 7006 feet (2136 meters), is located just south of <br />Flagstaff (about 35 miles northwest of the Happy Jack area). <br />According to the published 30 year (1951-80) normals (averages) <br />precipitation is 2.10, 1.95 and 2.13 inches for the months <br />of January, February and March respectively. In 1987 these <br />totals were 2.51, 2.54 and 1.69 inches for the same months. <br />This averaged about 25 percent above normal during January <br />and February but 20 percent below normal in March. Historically, <br />minimum and maximum monthly precipitation amounts during these <br />months have ranged from a low of zero to a high of 7.8 inches. <br />Therefore, the totals during the 1987 season appear to be <br />near normal. <br /> <br />In an "average" January, at Flagstaff, precipitation <br />totaling at least .01 inch can be expected to fall during <br />7.5 days, while in February and March the corresponding numbers <br />are 6.5 and 8.4 days, respectively. During the 1987 season <br />these numbers for the January-March months were 10, 14 and <br /> <br />3-22 <br />