Floods in Nevada Active
For more than 100 years, the USGS has played a critical role in reducing flood losses by operating a nationwide streamgage network that monitors the water level and flow of the Nation's rivers and streams. Through satellite and computer technology, streamgages transmit real-time information, which the National Weather Service (NWS) uses to issue flood warnings.
Streamgages provide long-term data that scientists need to better understand floods and to define flood-prone areas as well. Streamgage data also help in designing structures resilient to flooding and are the basis for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Flood Insurance program, the only Federal insurance program for natural hazards.
STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS AT A GLANCE
Carson River Basin || Truckee River Basin || Walker River Basin || Humboldt River Basin
NEVADA WATER SCIENCE CENTER FLOOD SCIENCE
On October 18, 2015 an intense, nearly stationary, thunderstorm triggered flooding in Grapevine Canyon. Grapevine Canyon Road, power and water infrastructure, and several buildings at Scotty’s Castle were damaged by the flood water, necessitating closure of the area to the public. In response to the flood event, the National Park Service requested the USGS Nevada Water Science Center perform a channel survey and hydraulic computation of peak flow for the event and update the information on current channel conditions to delineate the flood-inundation area of Grapevine Canyon and Tie Canyon near Scotty’s Castle.
USGS FLOOD RESOURCES
WaterWatch is a national USGS web site that provides streamgage-based maps that show the location of more than 3,000 long-term (30 years or more) USGS streamgages; use colors to represent streamflow conditions compared to historical streamflow; feature a point-and-click interface allowing users to retrieve graphs of stream stage (water elevation) and flow; and highlight locations where extreme hydrologic events, such as floods and droughts, are occurring
One of the tools from the site is the flood tracking chart builder. This site will build a chart of current stage, recent maximum stage, highest recorded peak stages, and National Weather Service flood stage for any USGS gaging station.
A collection of information and data about El Nino and its effects: floods, landslides, coastal hazards, and climate.
ADDITIONAL FLOOD RESOURCES
National Weather Service Flood Information
The National Weather Service provides several hydrology products for determining conditions in a specific area.
The FEMA Flood Map Service Center (MSC) is the official public source for flood hazard information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Use the MSC to find your official flood map, access a range of other flood hazard products, and take advantage of tools for better understanding flood risk.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
USGS publications related to flooding are listed below.
A hydrologic assessment of the September 14, 1974, flood in Eldorado Canyon, Nevada
Floods of December 1964 and January 1965 in the Far Western States; Part 1 Description
Floods of January-February 1963 in California and Nevada
Magnitude and frequency of floods in the United States: Part 10, the Great Basin
Floods of April-June 1952 in Utah and Nevada
Floods of November-December 1950 in western Nevada
- Overview
For more than 100 years, the USGS has played a critical role in reducing flood losses by operating a nationwide streamgage network that monitors the water level and flow of the Nation's rivers and streams. Through satellite and computer technology, streamgages transmit real-time information, which the National Weather Service (NWS) uses to issue flood warnings.
Streamgages provide long-term data that scientists need to better understand floods and to define flood-prone areas as well. Streamgage data also help in designing structures resilient to flooding and are the basis for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Flood Insurance program, the only Federal insurance program for natural hazards.
STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS AT A GLANCE
Carson River Basin || Truckee River Basin || Walker River Basin || Humboldt River Basin
NEVADA WATER SCIENCE CENTER FLOOD SCIENCE
On October 18, 2015 an intense, nearly stationary, thunderstorm triggered flooding in Grapevine Canyon. Grapevine Canyon Road, power and water infrastructure, and several buildings at Scotty’s Castle were damaged by the flood water, necessitating closure of the area to the public. In response to the flood event, the National Park Service requested the USGS Nevada Water Science Center perform a channel survey and hydraulic computation of peak flow for the event and update the information on current channel conditions to delineate the flood-inundation area of Grapevine Canyon and Tie Canyon near Scotty’s Castle.
USGS FLOOD RESOURCES
WaterWatch is a national USGS web site that provides streamgage-based maps that show the location of more than 3,000 long-term (30 years or more) USGS streamgages; use colors to represent streamflow conditions compared to historical streamflow; feature a point-and-click interface allowing users to retrieve graphs of stream stage (water elevation) and flow; and highlight locations where extreme hydrologic events, such as floods and droughts, are occurring
One of the tools from the site is the flood tracking chart builder. This site will build a chart of current stage, recent maximum stage, highest recorded peak stages, and National Weather Service flood stage for any USGS gaging station.
A collection of information and data about El Nino and its effects: floods, landslides, coastal hazards, and climate.
ADDITIONAL FLOOD RESOURCES
National Weather Service Flood Information
The National Weather Service provides several hydrology products for determining conditions in a specific area.
The FEMA Flood Map Service Center (MSC) is the official public source for flood hazard information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Use the MSC to find your official flood map, access a range of other flood hazard products, and take advantage of tools for better understanding flood risk.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
- Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
- Publications
USGS publications related to flooding are listed below.
Filter Total Items: 42A hydrologic assessment of the September 14, 1974, flood in Eldorado Canyon, Nevada
No abstract available.AuthorsPatrick A. Glancy, Lynn HarmsenFloods of December 1964 and January 1965 in the Far Western States; Part 1 Description
The floods of December 1964 and January 1965 in the Far Western States were extreme; in many areas, the greatest in the history of recorded streamflow and substantially greater than those of December 1955. An unusually large area--Oregon, most of Idaho, northern California, southern Washington, and small areas in western and northern Nevada--was involved. It exceeded the area flooded in 1955. OutsAuthorsA. O. Waananen, D.D. Harris, R.C. WilliamsFloods of January-February 1963 in California and Nevada
No abstract available.AuthorsL. E. Young, E. E. HarrisMagnitude and frequency of floods in the United States: Part 10, the Great Basin
The probable magnitude of floods of any recurrence interval between 1.1 and 50 years for any stream in the Great Basin can be determined by methods presented in this report.The Great Basin comprises nearly all of Nevada, western Utah, eastern California, and parts of Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming. The physiography of the basin is a series of mountain ranges and desert valleys, which trend in a north-AuthorsE. Butler, J.K. Reid, V.K. BerwickFloods of April-June 1952 in Utah and Nevada
The floods of April-June 1952 in the Great Basin and in the Green River basin in Utah came as the result of the heaviest snow cover recorded, a long period of near-record subnormal temperature during March and early April, and an abrupt change to above-normal temperature that induced rapid melting.Rainfall played an insignificant part. Low- and intermediate-elevation snow melted, bringing many strAuthorsJ. V. B. WellsFloods of November-December 1950 in western Nevada
Record-breaking floods in the Walker, Carson, and Truckee River basins during November and December 1950 resulted from a rapid sequence of storms and unseasonably high temperatures that melted most of the early snow cover. During the period November 13 to December 8, 1950, total precipitation ranged from about 5 inches at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Nevada to about 30 inches at the crest in CAuthorsJ. V. B. Wells