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<br />CONTENTS
<br />
<br />Abstraot....................................... ............. .........
<br />Introduotion........................................................ .
<br />Aoknowledgmentlll..................................................... .
<br />Raintall........ .............................. .................. ..,..
<br />Cauaes and intensit,............................ ......... ........
<br />Are... ot heavy raintall.................................... ......
<br />Topography of the Republican River-Kansas River Baain................
<br />Plood dillohargea... ......................................... .... .....
<br />aenora1 features..................... ...........................
<br />Progress of flood crestlll........................................
<br />Duration of tlood oreat............................. ....... .....
<br />Cre.t diaoharge.................................................
<br />Loae ot life and damage to property..................................
<br />Daily diecharge at gaging atatione...................................
<br />Previoua floode......................................................
<br />Revieion of recorda tor 1903......................... ................
<br />
<br />Plate 10.
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<br />12.
<br />1'.
<br />14.
<br />15.
<br />Figure 6.
<br />
<br />ILLUSTRATIONS
<br />
<br />11.
<br />
<br />Iaohyetal map of Republican River~Kansas River Basin
<br />and adjacent regions showing total rainrall in inohes
<br />ub~erv6d for ~~1 27 to Ju~ 2~ 1935.....................
<br />A, Kansaa River at Topeka. Ians., June 6, 19351
<br />B, Solomon River at Beloit, Kana., June 3, 19361
<br />C, Republioan River weat or Culbertaon, Webr.,
<br />June 11, 1936.......................... .... .............
<br />A, Republioan River at Cambridge, Nebr., June 1. 19361
<br />B, Republican River at Red Cloud, Nebr., June 2, 1935...
<br />Hydrographa of rlood atagee on Republioan and Kansalll
<br />Rivera, June 1-11,1936..................................
<br />A, Republican River at 8oandia, Kane., June 2, 193&1
<br />B, Republican River at Waketield, Kanlll., June 3, 1936...
<br />Location ot gaging atationa in Republioan River-Kanaaa
<br />River drainage baain....................................
<br />Cloudburst atorm in upper part of Republioan River
<br />drainage basin, Way 30-31, 1935.........................
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<br />Pago
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<br />Page
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<br />
<br />FLOOD ON REPUBLICAN AlID KANSAS RIVERS. KAY AND JUNE 1936
<br />
<br />By Robert Pollanabee and J. B. Spiegel
<br />
<br />ABBTRACT
<br />
<br />.:--.,
<br />
<br />An unusually heavy storm ot cloudburst intend ty in eastern Colorado
<br />and "estern Nebnaka dur1ns the night ot lIay 30-:51, 1935, whioh followed
<br />two periods ot general rainfall over the Republican-KansaB River Ballin
<br />earlier 10 the month, produoed the greatsst noed of record in the uppel"
<br />part of thie baein and a flood nearly as great alii any previoualy reoordod
<br />on the lower pal"t of the basin below JUnotion City, Kans.
<br />The aroa or heaviest rainfall oontained no preoipitation IItations ot
<br />the United Statell Weather Bureau, but reoorda obtained by local residents
<br />who measured the raintall in misoellaneousireceptao1ea indicate that the
<br />pre~ipitatlan wall 18 to 24 inohes at eome place II in the upper part or the
<br />Republioan-Kansas River Bauin during the night ot lIuy 30-31. During the
<br />period lIay 26 to June 2 the storm extended over the greater part of the
<br />balllnL caullllng looal flood8 on many rlvera in Nebraaka and Kanlllaa.
<br />The South Pork ot the Republioan River and the Arikaree River were
<br />the prinoipal sources of the flood and had the highest crest diacharges
<br />in lIecoDd-reet per aquare mile of any rivera in the basin, the crellt dis-
<br />oharge of the South Pork of the Republioan River at Newton, Colo., being
<br />about ,103,000 second-feet or 81.2 seoond-feet per aquare mile ot drain-
<br />age area. The crest diacharge 10 seoond-teet oontinued to increase a.
<br />the flood paBlled down the river until a maximum dillcharge or about
<br />280,000 second-foet ocourred between Cambridge and Arapahoe, Nebr. Be-
<br />low this point the effeots or ohannel and flood-plain capaoity in reduc-
<br />ing the crest dillloharge were suttioient to otfaet the inflow from tribu-
<br />tary etreama, 80 that there was a tlattening of the tlood crest and a
<br />gradual reduotion in the magnitude of the creat disoharge to 170,000
<br />eeoand-feet at Ogden, Kans., and 120,000 second-feet at the mouth of the
<br />lansaa River at Kanaaa City, Kana.
<br />The 10.118 of lite waa greatelllt in the upper parts of the >~lley in
<br />Colorado and Nebraska, where the flood ooourred at night. A total or
<br />110 livea were lost. The 101111 of livelltook waa 20,593. lIore than
<br />~76,OOO acr@o of f.rm land were d~ged, ~O!t of .hl~h r.nntained growing
<br />orop. or hay. Several hundred mles of highwaye and railroads were de-
<br />.troyed or damaged, aleo 516 highway bridgea and many railroad bridges.
<br />~ number of homes destroyed or damaged waa very large, eapecially in
<br />the upper part ot the valley, where the water r08e to unprecedented
<br />heights. In Kanaas 1,486 hames and 1,652 buildings other than homes
<br />"1'0 tlooded.
<br />The river mea8Urement statione maintained by the Oeolosical Burvey
<br />aDd cooperating partiell in Nebraska and Kanaas were in operation through-
<br />CNt the period. of the flood with the exception ot 5 atj,\'1.ona tl'un. were
<br />de.troled or rendered inoperative. Dete~nation8 of dllllcharge at theae
<br />6 stat ona were made trom tlood mal"ka and data obtained by obaervers. In
<br />addition to intormation r~garding maximum dlsoharg~s at stations on the
<br />Bepubl10an and Kanaas Rivera during the nood of May and June 19:'>5 con-
<br />tained elaewhere in thie report, the mean daily diacharge tor thilll'perlod
<br />ror 32 etatione in the Republican-Kansas River Baain is given in the
<br />tablea.
<br />, It appearo that other floods, eopecially that of May and June 1903
<br />haye been greater than that or May and June 1935 for the ~9as River b~-
<br />low Junotion City, althOUgh the flood. of 1935 waa the greatest flood that
<br />bad oocurred in the upper part or the Republican-Kanaas River Basin du~
<br />1ng the period or historieal record. Tbe tlood that oocurred in the
<br />.pring ot 1844 apparently exoeeded the flood ot 1903 in the lower part of
<br />the basin and illl believed to be the lIl.8.Ximum flood or reoord on the Kansas
<br />liyer, ~lthough no detinite intormation ia available as to its height or
<br />-.pituGe.
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