Ticker for June 25, 1999

                
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June 25, 1999      June 25, 1999      June 25, 1999      June 25, 1999


You Don't See That Very Often

Yesterday brought heavy downpours (again) to many locations in the
state.  At Marena, in Payne County, more than three inches of rain
fell in an hour around lunchtime.

Return periods are values which represent how frequently an event
of a certain magnitude may occur.  If you've heard people refer to
a "25-year flood" or a "50-year flood", they're talking about return
periods.

Anyway, thanks to Dr. Ron Elliott (OSU Biosystems and Ag Engineering)
and professional hydrologist Tom Haan, here are some return periods
for the event at Marena yesterday.

Duration       Rainfall       Return Period
5 minutes     0.68 inches    3.5 years
10 minutes     1.21 inches    7.5 years
15 minutes     1.64 inches    12 years
30 minutes     2.20 inches    13 years
60 minutes     3.17 inches    26 years