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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />0751 <br /> <br />28. ' The United States Geological Survey estimated that a peak dis- <br /> <br /> <br />charge of about 45,400 cubic feet per second occurred at Trinidad on <br /> <br /> <br />September 30. The total volume of the flood at Trinidad during the <br /> <br /> <br />period September 28 to October 2, inclusive was estimated at 50,000 <br /> <br /> <br />acre-feet, or equivalent to 1.18 inches of runoff from the 795 square <br /> <br /> <br />miles of drainage area. It was further estimated that over 60 percent <br /> <br /> <br />of the total volume passed through the city in 12 hours. Adequate rain- <br /> <br /> <br />fall records are not available to determine the ratio of runoff to rain- <br /> <br /> <br />fall but the available data indicate that loss rates were not at a <br /> <br /> <br />minimum during the period of higher intensity rainfall. An estimated <br /> <br /> <br />hydro graph for this flood at Trinidad, based on data in the U.S. <br /> <br /> <br />Geological Survey \r'ater-8upply Paper No. 147, pp. 158-169, 1905, <br /> <br /> <br />is shown on plate 2. <br /> <br /> <br />29. Flood of April 1942. - On April 23, 1942, the second largest <br /> <br /> <br />flood of record occurred in Purgatoire River at Trinidad. April 1942 <br /> <br /> <br />was one of the wettest months in Colorado. At the beginning of the <br /> <br /> <br />month the snow cover in the mountains was above normal. The United <br /> <br /> <br />States Weather Bureau maps indicated that the synoptic situation which <br /> <br /> <br />produced this storm was set up about the middle of the month by a high <br /> <br /> <br />pressure cell located over the southeastern states. This high pressure <br /> <br /> <br />cell caused a flow of moist air into the region which resulted in oro- <br /> <br /> <br />graphic and instability precipitation. A north-south ridge of high <br /> <br /> <br />pressure aloft was located over the Mississippi Valley on April 21 and 22. <br /> <br /> <br />A large coId trough overlaid the Flocky i"Iountains. The trough moved <br /> <br /> <br />eastward about April 23 and as the cold front passed the Purgatoire <br /> <br /> <br />Basin, precipitation occurred of sufficient magnitude and intensity to <br /> <br /> <br />cause a large flood. As in the 1904 flood, the chief sources of the <br /> <br /> <br />1942 flood were Long and Raton Canyons. Runoff during this flood was <br /> <br /> <br />similar to that of the flood of September 1904. A peak discharge of <br /> <br /> <br />35,000 cubic feet per second was estimated at Trinidad. The volume of <br /> <br />2t1 <br /> <br />APPENDIX B <br /> <br />;Y, <br /> <br />