480 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Little Falls where the gagings were made was about 4 feet to 4.5 

 feet in depth, equivalent to a flow of from 12,000 to 14,000 cubic 

 feet per second, the temporary storage of the flats reducing the 

 quantity at Little Falls very greatly. 



By way of showing the quantity of rainfall causing the flood 

 of August 24-26, 1898, the following precipitations at a number of 

 points in the central and eastern portions of the State are cited 

 from the monthly report of the New York State Weather Bureau : 



Rainfall in inches 



Name of Place A 



ugust 23 



August 24 



Total 



Cooperstown 



1 



.96 



1.40 



3 



,36 





1 



.10 



2.18 



3, 



,28 





1 



.24 



1.30 



2. 



,54 



Little Falls (near city) 







.64 



0.56 



1. 



,20 



Little Falls reservoir (8 miles north) . 



1 



.68 



2.78 



4. 



.46 





1. 



.71 



0.88 



2. 



,59 









.35 



2.36 



2. 



71 



Albany 



0, 



.50 



1.86 



2. 



36 



Greenwich 



1. 



,16 



1.58 



2. 



,74 





1, 



.20 



1.40 



2. 



60 



Saratoga Springs 



0. 



,23 



1.79 



2. 



02 





1. 



,45 



0.43 



1. 



88 



Taking all the facts into consideration, there seems to be no 

 reasonable doubt but that the streams tributary to the Mohawk 

 river above Little Falls for a shdrt time on August 24 or 25 deliv- 

 ered water into the flat area at the rate of perhaps 40,000 cubic feet 

 per second. By way of illustrating further why this large inflow 

 did not produce a greater flow at Little Falls, we may consider 

 that for from thirty to fifty days previous to August 23 the rain- 

 fall on and in the vicinity of the Mohawk catchment area had been 

 rather low. The total for the Mohawk valley in July, 1898, as de- 

 duced from Weather Bureau stations at Little Falls, Canajoharie, 

 St Johnsville and Rome was 3.93 inches, 2.53 inches of this having 

 fallen on July 18 and 19. The concentration of the rainfall of 

 the month into these two days had the effect of sending a very 

 large portion of it into the streams, only a small portion going 

 to replenish ground water. On August 1 the Mohawk valley 

 tecord shows 1.18 inches precipitation, the total for that month 

 being 7.12 inches. We may assume, therefore, that ground water 



