| Water Resources of New Hampshire and Vermont |
| Flooding in Vermont, June 27, 1998 Report by USGS, WRD, NH-VT District Last update 8/07/98 |
Heavy rainfall ranging from 2 to 5 inches fell across northern portions of Vermont and New Hampshire at the end of last week with the heaviest amounts occurring in central Vermont from about Bristol, Vermont on the western side of the Green Mountains to Bradford, Vermont to the east. As a result, flash flooding occurred primarily along rivers in the St. Lawrence and Connecticut River basins of central Vermont on June 27, 1998. USGS work crews have been measuring flood flows and documenting peak stage and flow information since Saturday. USGS streamflow gaging stations recorded peak stream stage and flows for the event within the area as follows: Ayers Brook at Randolph, VT peaked at approximately 4,200 cubic feet per second (about 2.7 billion gallons per day). Based on 58 years of record, this flow is greater than a 100-year flood or one having about a one in one hundred percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year and is the highest peak of record since records began in 1939. New Haven River near Middlebury, VT peaked at approximately 21,000 cubic feet per second (about 13.6 billion gallons per day). Based on only 7 years of peak record, this flow is greater than a 100-year or one having about a one in one hundred percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year and is the highest peak of record. Mad River near Moretown, VT peaked at approximately 14,500 cubic feet per second (about 9.4 billion gallons per day). Based on 69 years of peak record, this flow is equivalent to about a 50-year flood or one having about a one in fifty percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year and is the third highest peak of record being only exceeded by the 1927 and 1938 flood events. White River at West Hartford, VT peaked at approximately 34,500 cubic feet per second (about 22 billion gallons per day). Based on 82 years of record, this flow is greater than a 10-year but less than a 25-year flood or one having about a one in ten to one in twenty-five percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year and is the sixth highest peak of record being only exceeded by the 1928, 1938, 1936, 1973, and 1922 flood events. In other drainage basins throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, flows generally were less than a 2-year recurrence interval. For more details on selected flood stages and discharges, see the table below.
Peak Stages, Discharges and Approximate Recurrence Intervals
Provisional Data for Flood of June 27, 1998
Period
Station DA Station Peak Peak Peak RI Historical of Record
No. Stage cfs cfsm Yrs Stage discharge year
MERRIMACK RIVER BASIN Pemigewasset River at Woodstock, NH 193 1075000 5.74 2610 14 lt 2 16.13 47000 1959 1940-97 Stevens Brook near Wentworth, NH 2.9 1075800 2.71 77 26 lt 2 6.36 1210 1973 1963-97 Baker River near Rumney, NH 143 1076000 8.96 5770 40 2-5 15.50 21400 1942 1940-97 Pemigewasset River at Plymouth, NH 622 1076500 10.83 14700 24 lt 2 29.00 64500 1936 1903-97 Smith River near Bristol, NH 85.8 1078000 5.15 936 11 lt 2 16.09 8100 1936 1918-97 Period
Station DA Station Peak Peak Peak RI Historical of Record
No. Stage cfs cfsm Yrs Stage discharge year
CONNECTICUT RIVER BASIN Passumpsic River at Passumpsic, VT 436 1135500 4.60 1550 3.5 lt 2 23.49 18200 1973 1928-97 Ammonoosuc River at Bethlehem Junction, NH 87.6 1137500 3.32 507 5.8 lt 2 12.34 11300 1996 1939-97 Connecticut River at Wells River, VT 2644 1138500 5.17 9730 3.7 lt 2 17.35 57100 1973 1949-97 Wells River at Wells River, VT 98.4 1139000 4.40 989 10 lt 2 9.82 5970 1973 1940-97 East Orange Branch at East Orange, VT 8.9 1139800 5.09 513 58 10-25 5.90 800 1990 1958-97 Mink Brook near Etna, NH 4.6 1141800 2.72 147 32 lt 2 3.93 629 1986 1962-97 Ayers Brook at Randolph, VT 30.5 1142500 11.93 4200 138 gt 100 10.37 2600 1973 1939-97 White River at West Hartford, VT 690 1144000 17.38 34500 50 10-25 29.3 120000 1928 1915-97 Connecticut River at West Lebanon, NH 4092 1144500 20.79 57700 14 2-5 35.0 136000 1928 1911-97 Ottauquechee River near West Bridgewater, VT 23.4 1150900 5.37 542 23 lt 2 7.78 1960 1995 1985-97 Sugar River at West Claremont, NH 269 1152500 3.34 1220 4.5 lt 2 10.92 14000 1936 1928-97 Williams River near Rockingham, VT 112 1153550 4.25 643 5.7 lt 2 10.59 11500 1987 1986-97 Connecticut River at North Walpole, NH 5493 1154500 21.77 a57100 10 lt 2 30.3 97000 1953 1942-97
Period
Station DA Station Peak Peak Peak RI Historical of Record
No. Stage cfs cfsm Yrs Stage discharge year
HUDSON RIVER BASIN Walloomsac River near North Bennington, VT 111 1334000 3.07 464 4.2 lt 2 12.04 8450 1938 1931-97 ST. LAWRENCE RIVER BASIN
Otter Creek at Center Rutland, VT 307 4282000 6.2 2410 7.8 lt 2 b12.45 13700 1938 1928-97
New Haven River at Brooksville nr Middlebury, VT 115 4282525 14.08 21200 184 gt 100 10.92 9580 1996 1990-97
Little Otter Creek at Ferrisburg, VT 57.1 4282650 4.25 750 14 2 5.17 2210 1996 1990-97
Lewis Creek at N. Ferrisburg, VT 77.2 4282780 6.10 3230 1996 1990-97
LaPlatte River at Shelburne Falls, VT 44.6 4282795 4.53 740 17 lt 2 7.73 2640 1996 1990-97
Winooski River at Montpelier, VT 397 4286000 7.57 3370 8.5 lt 2 c27.1 c57000 1928 1909-23,
1928-97
Dog River at Northfield Falls, VT 76.1 4287000 6.66 3530 46 2-5 11.57 10600 1973 1934-97
Mad River near Moretown, VT 139 4288000 14.14 14500 104 50 c19.4 c23000 1928 1929-97
Winooski River near Essex Junction, VT 1044 4290500 12.84 19100 18 2 24.54 45300 1936 1929-97
Lamoille River at Johnson, VT 310 4292000 8.68 3720 12 lt 2 19.98 19000 1995 1912-97
1990-97
-- = no peak occurred ~ = approximately a = peak occurred on June 28 b = at different datum c = outside period of record cfs = cubic feet per second cfsm = cubic feet per second per square mile of drainage area DA = drainage area in square miles gt = greater than lt = less than RI = approximate recurrence interval in years Stage = water level in feet above gage zero unk = unkown Flooding in Northern New Hampshire and Vermont - JUN 27 98 Back to NH-VT Water Science Center Home Page Generated with CERN WebMaker |
U.S.
Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
New Hampshire/Vermont Water Science Center, 361 Commerce Way, Pembroke, NH
03275, USA
Comments and feedback: NH/VT webmaster-nh@usgs.gov
Last Updated May 14, 2008
Privacy Statement ||
Disclaimer