A limit of practicable usefulness of snow surveys for forecasting runoff at Ft. Peck Montana

Submitted by Armida on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 16:45
TitleA limit of practicable usefulness of snow surveys for forecasting runoff at Ft. Peck Montana
Publication TypeConference Proceedings
Year of Conference1939
AuthorsFreeman, D. B.
Conference Name7th Annual Western Interstate Snow Survey Conference
Series TitleProceedings of the 7th Annual Western Interstate Snow Survey Conference
Date PublishedDecember 1938
PublisherAmerican Geophysical Union, Transactions, Part I:
Conference LocationSpokane, Washington
KeywordsPrecipitation data, Water supply forecasting
Abstract

The prediction of the Missouri River flowing into Fort Peck Reservoir presents many problems where the reservoir is 225 miles east of the nearest snow survey course. The river transverses an entirely different environment from the headwaters basins. Many unmeasured diversions are encountered as well as unmeasured tributary streams. Precipitation data appeared to show a better relation to percent normal than the snow survey data, probably due to the remote location of the reservoir and the large area in the rain fall altitudes. In order to produce a more reliable forecast from snow surveys a longer record of data is needed and considerable study will be necessary.