128 



SOUTHERN A.PPALACH1AN KEGION. 



of water increasing rapidly at the time of rain on the moun- 

 tain sides. In many parts the stream valleys are simpl}' 

 mountain gorges, with steep, vertical sides, and with veiy 

 small flood plains. Water powers could be developed at 

 many places along these rivers, the fall in the upper 

 part reaching, in some cases, 100 feet in an almost vertical 

 drop, though the quantity of water at these points is com- 

 paratively small. When the rivers reach the plains lying 

 at the edge of the mountain system their fall is veiy 

 much less, yet at frequent intervals decided drops occur, 

 and the flow is so increased by the numerous tributaries 

 that water powers of considerable magnitude and value 

 can be developed. 



THE RAINFALL AND RUN-OFF IN THIS REGION. 



In this region the influence of elevation on climate is 

 supreme; the summers are colder, the winters more 

 severe, and the climate is drier and more salubrious than 

 at points not far distant, but outside of the high mountain 

 area. The trend of the mountains to the southwest influ- 

 ences the prevailing winds, while the great diversit}- in 

 topographic features give rise to many interesting climatic 

 peculiarities. 



On the mountains near the southern end of the Appala- 

 chian system the rainfall is very heavy, but, on the other 

 hand, in many central valleys the rainfall is as light and 

 the climate as mild as at man}^ points east of the Blue 

 Ridge. 



Climate de- The area embraced in the proposed reserve belongs to that 



scribGd in \\'g<i- 



ther Bureau pa- portion of the eastern United States characterized bv the 



pel'. . ^ ^ 



greatest annual rainfall, there being places along the south- 

 eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge which receive an annual 

 precipitation not exceeded elsewhere in the United States, 

 except along the northwest Pacific coast. The average 

 rainfall for a period of more than ten years at various 

 places in the southern Appalachian Mountains in noithern 

 Georgia and western North Carolina and South Carolina 

 has been nearly 73 inches, while at times the precipitation 

 for a single month has been between 20 and 30 inches, the 

 greatest amount falling in the three summer months and 

 the least in autumn, the amounts in winter and spring being 

 about the same. It is worthy of remark that the average 

 precipitation at Asheville is only about 42 inches — the 

 smallest rainfall record made at any station in the region. 



