The Black River crested at a record 16.0 feet and 55,000 cubic feet per second at Watertown on Saturday (1/10/98), the highest since at least 1869. Peak flows at stations along the Hudson River near Newcomb, North Creek, and Ft. Edward were the highest since 1949. The peak flow of the West Branch Oswegatchie River at Harrisville was the highest since at least 1916.
Hinckley Reservoir rose about 26 feet and stored more than 15 billion gallons of water before spilling into West Canada Creek on Saturday. Sacandaga Reservoir has risen about 10 feet and stored more than 80 billion gallons of water that would otherwise have flowed into the Hudson River. The elevation of Sacandaga Reservoir is about 8 feet below the spillway.
Locally, peak stages at USGS stations on Schoharie Creek, the Mohawk River, and the Hudson River at Green Island and Albany were less than the peak stages recorded during the January 1996 flood.
USGS crews have been measuring floodflows in the Hudson, Mohawk, and Black River basins since last Thursday to provide information to Federal, State, and local agencies. The following table lists recurrence intervals of peak-flows for selected USGS stations located in the Hudson, Mohawk, and St. Lawrence River basins during January 8-12. A 100-year flood is one that has a 1 in 100 chance of being exceeded in any given year, but the occurrence of a 100-year flood does not decrease the chances of its happening again in the near future.
Preliminary
Peak-Flow
Recurrence
Interval for
January 8-12
Station Name (years)
Hudson River at Newcomb > 100
Hudson River at North Creek 50
Schroon River at Riverbank 4
Hudson River at Hadley 15
Sacandaga River near Hope 10
Hudson River at Ft. Edward 15
Batten Kill at Battenville 15
Glowegee Creek at West Milton 15
Kayaderosseras Creek near West Milton 15
Hoosic River near Eagle Bridge 4
Hudson River at Waterford 4
West Canada Creek at Kast Bridge 4
Mohawk River near Little Falls 9
East Canada Creek at East Creek 80
Schoharie Creek at Burtonsville 4
Mohawk River at Cohoes 9
Hudson River at Green Island 10
Black River near Boonville 50
Independance River at Donnattsburg 20
Black River at Watertown > 100
W.Branch Oswegatchie R. near Harrisville > 100
Oswegatchie River near Heuvelton 10
Raquette River at Piercefield 9 **
West Branch St. Regis R. near Parishville 10
Mettawee River near Middle Granville 15
** continues to rise January 14
Selected flood hydrograph examples:
Black River at Watertown stage
Black River at Watertown discharge
Raquette River at Piercefield discharge
Contact name: Gerard Butch
email:
gkbutch@usgs.gov
phone: 518-285-5673
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Last modified: Wed Jan 14 09:48:26 1998