Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Karl E Winters

Karl Winters is a Surface Water Specialist for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.

Karl is the acting National Flood Hazard Coordinator, and a Surface-Water Specialist in the Hydrologic Networks Branch, providing operational support and coordination of USGS flood response, as well as training and technical/operational support for flood documentation and modeling, and computation of streamflow records. Karl graduated from the University of Missouri - Rolla in 1991 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He started work for the USGS in the Mississippi District in January 1992 in the Flood Studies Section, performing 1-D and 2-D flow modeling, scour analyses, and numerous indirect measurements. From 2004 through 2013, Karl served as the Surface-Water Specialist for the Texas Water Science Center. Karl has conducted flood modeling and documentation surveys in several countries.  He instructs surface-water courses for Water Science Centers and at the National Training Center. Karl is an instrument-rated pilot and a registered professional engineer.

Science and Products

link
Installation of a USGS Rapid Deployment Gage

Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs)

Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs) are fully-functional streamgages designed to be deployed quickly and temporarily to measure and transmit stream stage data in emergency situations.
By
Water Resources Mission Area
link

Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs)

Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs) are fully-functional streamgages designed to be deployed quickly and temporarily to measure and transmit stream stage data in emergency situations.
Learn More
link
USGS Hydrologic Technician performing wire weight measurement during record flood at USGS gage 7018500

USGS Flood Information

The USGS collects flood data and conducts targeted flood science to help Federal, State, and local agencies, decision makers, and the public before, during, and after a flood. Our efforts provide situational awareness, drive predictive models, inform infrastructure design and operation, undergird floodplain mapping, assist flood constituent/load quantification, and facilitate flood impact...
By
Water Resources Mission Area
link

USGS Flood Information

The USGS collects flood data and conducts targeted flood science to help Federal, State, and local agencies, decision makers, and the public before, during, and after a flood. Our efforts provide situational awareness, drive predictive models, inform infrastructure design and operation, undergird floodplain mapping, assist flood constituent/load quantification, and facilitate flood impact...
Learn More
link
Satellite view of Hurricane Sandy

Historical Flooding

The USGS provides practical, unbiased information about the Nation's rivers and streams that is crucial in mitigating hazards associated with floods. This site provides information about the USGS activities, data, and services provided during regional high-flow events, such as hurricanes or multi-state flooding events. The USGS response to these events is typically managed by the National Flood...
By
Water Resources Mission Area
link

Historical Flooding

The USGS provides practical, unbiased information about the Nation's rivers and streams that is crucial in mitigating hazards associated with floods. This site provides information about the USGS activities, data, and services provided during regional high-flow events, such as hurricanes or multi-state flooding events. The USGS response to these events is typically managed by the National Flood...
Learn More

Annual and approximately quarterly series peak streamflow derived from interpretations of indirect measurements for a crest-stage gage network in Texas through water year 2015

In 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), incooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation,began collecting annual and approximately quarterly seriespeak-streamflow data at streamflow-gaging stations in smalltomedium-sized watersheds in central and western Texasas part of a crest-stage gage (CSG) network, along withselected flood-hydrograph data at a subset of these stations.CSGs record
Authors
William H. Asquith, Glenn R. Harwell, Karl E. Winters
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

A preliminary assessment of streamflow gains and losses for selected stream reaches in the lower Guadalupe River Basin, Texas, 2010-12

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–Fort Worth District, the Texas Water Development Board, the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, and the Edwards Aquifer Authority, investigated streamflow gains and losses in the lower Guadalupe River Basin during four selected base-flow periods in March 2010, April 2011, August 2011, and, for a stream reach between Seg
Authors
Loren L. Wehmeyer, Karl E. Winters, Darwin J. Ockerman
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

A historical perspective on precipitation, drought severity, and streamflow in Texas during 1951-56 and 2011

The intense drought throughout Texas during 2011 resulted in substantial declines in streamflow. By April 2011, nearly all of the State was experiencing severe to extreme drought according to data from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Drought Monitor. By the end of July 2011, more than 75 percent of the State was experiencing exceptional drought. The worst of the drought occurred around October
Authors
Karl E. Winters
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Floods in Central Texas, September 7-14, 2010

Severe flooding occurred near the Austin metropolitan area in central Texas September 7–14, 2010, because of heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Hermine. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District, determined rainfall amounts and annual exceedance probabilities for rainfall resulting in flooding in Bell, Williamson, and T
Authors
Karl E. Winters
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Assessment of channel changes, model of historical floods, and effects of backwater on flood stage, and flood mitigation alternatives for the Wichita River at Wichita Falls, Texas

In cooperation with the City of Wichita Falls, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed channel changes on the Wichita River at Wichita Falls, Texas, and modeled historical floods to investigate possible causes and potential mitigation alternatives to higher flood stages in recent (2007 and 2008) floods. Extreme flooding occurred on the Wichita River on June 30, 2007, inundating 167 homes in Wichita Fa
Authors
Karl E. Winters, Stanley Baldys
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Reduced channel conveyance on the Wichita River at Wichita Falls, Texas, 1900-2009

Recent floods on the Wichita River at Wichita Falls, Texas, have reached higher stages compared to historical floods of similar magnitude discharges. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has operated streamflow-gaging station 07312500 Wichita River at Wichita Falls, Tex., since 1938 and flood measurements near the location of the present gage were first made in 1900. Floods recorded in 2007 and 2008
Authors
Karl Winters, Stanley Baldys, Russell Schreiber
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Simulations of flooding on Tchoutacabouffa River at State Highways 15 and 67 at D'Iberville, Mississippi

A two-dimensional finite-element surface-water model was used to simulate the effects of the proposed State Highways 15 and 67 relocation on water-surface elevations and flow distributions for the 100-year flood on the Tchoutacabouffa River at D'Iberville, Mississippi. The Mississippi Department of Transportation plans to relocate State Highways 15 and 67 by removing a portion of the existing four
Authors
Karl E. Winters

Science and Products