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<br />III. PRECIPITATION AND RUNOFF <br /> <br />.>.: <br /> <br />A. Precipitation Records and Character <br />The average annual precipitation at Yuma during the period of <br />1931 through 1973 has been 17 inches, with May to September precipitation <br />averaging 11-3/4 inches. As is evident from the characteristics of the <br />basin, only very intense storms will result in significant runoff from <br />the basin. Snowmelt will not create sufficient short term water source <br />to produce design floods. Consequently, the precipitation of interest <br />is the May to September rainfall. <br />Rainfall records from four sources have been investigated. The <br />National Weather Service (N.W.s.) maintained a 24 hour precipitation gage at <br />Yuma from 1890 through 1973. Henry Goeglein, who formerly farmed 5 <br />miles west of Yuma and now is a resident of Yuma has maintained a second <br />24 hour precipitation record since 1940 in a standard 8 inch National <br />Weather Service gage. The Colorado State Climatologist computer file <br />of rainfall data was searched for extreme event rainfalls, and these <br />values were checked with the N.W.S. and Goeglein records. Table 1 shows <br />some of the higher observed 24 hour rainfalls. <br /> <br />-8- <br /> <br />." <br />