Snowmelt & Dewpoints: Table 1 & Figure 1

Minnesotans For Sustainability^©

Sustainable: A society that balances the environment, other life forms, and human interactions over an indefinite time period.

Earlier in the Year Snowmelt Runoff and Increasing Dewpoints for Rivers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota*

                Patrick J. Neuman

                                             Table 1 & Figure 1

Location of river basins for study:

The Red River basin is along the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota, within the
Northern Great Plains, and within the headwaters area to Hudson Bay. The St. Louis River is
near Duluth, Minnesota, within the Upper Midwest and within the headwaters to Lake Superior.
The St. Croix River is along the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin, northwest of Eau
Claire, Wisconsin, within the Upper Midwest, and within the headwaters to the Mississippi River.
						Table 1.
	Data are Julian Days for the										Excel Data Sheet for Figure 1
	Beginning Day of annual snowmelt
											Terminology:
Year	Fargo	Scanlon	St Cr fls
1902	msg	msg	79								Mean daily flow is the amount of water
1903	msg	msg	78								that passes a river station during
1904	msg	msg	93								a 24 hour period.
1905	msg	msg	89
1906	msg	msg	msg								Annual snowmelt runoff is defined as total
1907	msg	msg	msg								annual spring or early winter runoff from
1908	msg	106	msg								both snowmelt and rainfall.
1909	msg	125	msg
Data used in 10 yr avgs begins in 1910
1910	65	83	72								Additional explanation given at end.
1911	86	90	112
1912	92	97	93
1913	92	103	93
1914	81	112	96
1915	91	128	98		Data for J.D. plot:
1916	86	102	92		10 yr mov avgs
1917	79	99	90					Plotted at 10th yr
1918	81	130	84		Yr		Far	Scn	Scf		Example of mov avg for Fargo:
1919	81	85	81		1919		83	103	91.1		83 is avg of 65, 86, … 81
1920	76	83	84		1920		85	103	92.3		85 is avg 86, 92, … 76, plot at 1920
1921	78	86	91		1921		84	103	90.2		84 is avg 92, 92, … 78, plot at 1921
1922	76	97	80		1922		82	103	88.9		… …
1923	99	106	105		1923		83	103	90.1		( Leap yrs, 1904..2000 )
1924	100	132	120		1924		85	105	92.5
1925	93	87	86		1925		85	101	91.3		River Basin Characteristics
1926	80	83	89		1926		84	99	91
1927	71	75	72		1927		84	96	89.2		Red River at Fargo ND
1928	82	85	84		1928		84	92	89.2		Headwaters of Hudson Bay.
1929	73	77	75		1929		83	91	88.6		Flow record: 1902-2003.
1930	56	129	125		1930		81	96	92.7		Drainage area: 6800 square miles
1931	85	83	85		1931		82	95	92.1		Average annual flow: 680 cfs
1932	100	98	99		1932		84	96	94		St. Louis River at Scanlon MN
1933	94	107	94		1933		83	96	92.9		Headwaters of Great Lakes.
1934	100	96	98		1934		83	92	90.7		Flow record: 1908-2003.
1935	76	84	80		1935		82	92	90.1		Drainage area: 3430 square miles
1936	83	102	85		1936		82	94	89.7		Average annual flow: 2410 cfs
1937	100	103	93		1937		85	96	91.8		St. Croix R at St.Croix Falls WI
1938	79	80	80		1938		85	96	91.4		Headwaters of Mississippi River
1939	83	91	83		1939		86	97	92.2		Flow record: 1902-2003.
1940	95	97	98		1940		90	94	89.5		Drainage area: 6240 square miles
1941	86	95	92		1941		90	95	90.2		Average annual flow: 4400 cfs
1942	90	92	83		1942		89	95	88.6
1943	88	90	90		1943		88	93	88.2
1944	87	101	100		1944		87	94	88.4
1945	71	74	74		1945		86	93	87.8
1946	77	77	73		1946		86	90	86.6
1947	82	95	94		1947		84	89	86.7
1948	88	88	85		1948		85	90	87.2
1949	90	94	85		1949		85	90	87.4
1950	85	107	87		1950		84	91	86.3
1951	88	96	96		1951		85	91	86.7
1952	92	97	94		1952		85	92	87.8
1953	79	81	80		1953		84	91	86.8
1954	78	98	98		1954		83	91	86.6
1955	90	93	90		1955		85	93	88.2
1956	95	96	95		1956		87	95	90.4
1957	83	92	82		1957		87	94	89.2
1958	64	93	93		1958		84	95	90
1959	88	125	127		1959		84	98	94.2
1960	87	105	91		1960		84	98	94.6
1961	66	87	87		1961		82	97	93.7
1962	94	118	92		1962		82	99	93.5
1963	84	88	87		1963		83	100	94.2
1964	95	103	105		1964		85	100	94.9
1965	97	103	100		1965		85	101	95.9
1966	71	43	41		1966		83	96	90.5
1967	77	88	88		1967		82	95	91.1
1968	78	89	116		1968		84	95	93.4
1969	86	97	83		1969		84	92	89
1970	96	98	98		1970		84	91	89.7
1971	77	100	89		1971		86	93	89.9
1972	74	107	82		1972		84	92	88.9
1973	64	72	70		1973		82	90	87.2
1974	72	103	98		1974		79	90	86.5
1975	83	106	104		1975		78	90	86.9
1976	79	88	82		1976		79	95	91
1977	80	74	74		1977		79	93	89.6
1978	82	90	88		1978		79	94	86.8
1979	89	107	82		1979		80	95	86.7
1980	77	94	92		1980		78	94	86.1
1981	84	89	89		1981		78	93	86.1
1982	76	103	89		1982		79	93	86.8
1983	65	65	62		1983		79	92	86
1984	59	54	48		1984		77	87	81
1985	70	82	74		1985		76	85	78
1986	77	89	84		1986		76	85	78.2
1987	65	84	84		1987		74	86	79.2
1988	69	96	87		1988		73	86	79.1
1989	88	94	87		1989		73	85	79.6
1990	79	74	72		1990		73	83	77.6
1991	84	85	81		1991		73	83	76.8
1992	63	70	66		1992		72	79	74.5
1993	81	87	86		1993		74	82	76.9
1994	60	83	75		1994		74	84	79.6
1995	67	74	73		1995		73	84	79.5
1996	67	103	78		1996		72	85	78.9
1997	53	88	86		1997		71	85	79.1
1998	51	56	55		1998		69	81	75.9
1999	57	87	88		1999		66	81	76
2000	55	59	60		2000		64	79	74.8
2001	65	97	93		2001		62	80	76
2002	68	100	90		2002		62	83	78.4		avg for 1993-2002 plotted at 2002
2003	62	110	82		2003		61	86	78		avg for 1994-2003 plotted at 2003



estimated	1916-17	based on monthly avg flows for Mar & Apr.

Criteria	500 cfs	2500 cfs	5000 cfs

below crit:	1931	1925	1931
estimated	1934	1958
using flow	1977	1977
for 1st	1981
crest of yr

Criteria mean daily flow values were defined for use in determining "Beginning Days of
Snowmelt Runoff" in Julian Days for each river station for all years of record. Julian Days
represent days of the year with consecutive numbers (number 1 for January 1st, 58 for
February 28th and 90 (or 91 if leap year) for March 31st . Criteria flows were defined by
trial and error (picked large enough to exclude any "Beginning Day of Snowmelt Runoff" that
had only partial snowmelt runoff, but picked small enough so that every year of record had a
"Beginning Day of Snowmelt Runoff. The Julian Day that first meets criteria flow for an
annual	snowmelt runoff period is assigned to be the "Beginning Day or Snowmelt Runoff for a
year. 10 yr moving averaging begins with assigned Julian Days from 1910 to 1919, plotted
at year 1919 on Figure 1. For Fargo, 1916 & 1917 were estimated based on mean monthly				Figure 1.
For years when flow remained below criteria, peak spring flow used for J. D.										used for Julian Day that runoff begins.

Annual Beginning Day of Snowmelt Runoff in Julian Days were identified
for the river stations using mean daily flow records. Julian Days are
consecutive numbers representing days of the year, Julian Day numbers
1, 31, 58, 59, and 91 or 92 represent calendar days Jan 1, Jan 31, Feb
28, Feb 29, and Mar 31 or Apr 1(leap yr).

______
* Used with permission of Pat Neuman.

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