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<br />page 33 <br /> <br />by floodwaters. Flood water overtopped highway and <br /> <br />railroad grades east of Atwood. Pawnee Creek flood <br /> <br />waters flowed in an easterly d.irection toward <br /> <br />Sterling causing the inundation of portions of <br /> <br />Sterling. <br /> <br />The floods of June 1965 in the South Platte River basin occurred in <br /> <br /> <br />four areas after one or more storms on four consecutive days, June 14-17. <br /> <br /> <br />Records of six streams whose drainage basins are principally in the <br /> <br />mountains, from the South Platte River at Waterton, which is upstream <br /> <br />from Plum Creek, to the Cache la Pouclre River near Greeley, show that <br /> <br />snowmelt runoff from the Rocky Mount~ins was a contrib~Ging, but not <br /> <br />significant, factor in the flood aloVg the main stem of the South Platte <br /> <br />River. Also, the irregular distribution of the heavy, intense rainfall, <br /> <br />was such that some tributaries contributed little or no runoff to the <br /> <br />flood. <br /> <br />THE GREELEY-STERLING M1EA <br />Heavy, intense rains along a belt about 30 miles wide and 100 miles <br /> <br />long just south of the Colorado-Wyoming State line and from north of <br /> <br />Greeley to north of Sterling caused floods on most left-bank tributaries <br /> <br />of the South Platte River in the high plains. <br />Peak discharges were determined at one discontinued gaging station <br /> <br /> <br />and at five miscellaneous sites in this area. The gaging station on <br /> <br /> <br />Lone Tree Creek near Nunn was operated during the 1951-.57 water years, <br /> <br /> <br />and the maximum discharge during this period was 775 cfs in 1955, whereas <br /> <br /> <br />the June 14, 1965, peak was 5,810 cfs. <br /> <br /> <br />A gaging station was operated on Crow Creek near Barnesville from <br /> <br /> <br />July 1961 to Septermber 1957. There was no flow at this site during <br /> <br />this period because all flow is normally diverted or stored upstream for <br />