Floods of March-May 1965 in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Book excerpt: The floods of March-May 1965 in the upper Mississippi River basin occurred as two different events, one during the latter part of February and early March and the other starting early in April and extending into May. Factors contributing to the floods were rapid melting of the winter accumulation of snow, heavy rains on the snow pack, and deeply frozen ground throughout much of the basin, which made the soil almost impervious and thereby greatly increased the amount of runoff. Peak stages and discharges during the floods exceeded previous known maxima at many points. Included in this report are peak stages and discharges for these floods at 333 sites; flood damages; effect of drainage and storage on flood peaks; and the operations of the U.S. Geological Survey and other Federal agencies during the flood emergency.