| Table 1. Major floods at Great Falls since 1773. | ||||||
| [Abbreviations are as follows: ft, feet; m, meters; asl; above sea level)] | ||||||
| Date | Flood height above "drought level," in ft |
Known/calculated elevation above sea level, in ft |
Discharge, in 1000 ft3/s (1000 m3/s) at Little Falls, |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 1996 |
—
|
146
|
314 (8.89)
|
|||
| Jan. 1996 |
—
|
148
|
347 (9.82)
|
|||
| Nov. 1985 |
82
|
147
|
317 (8.98)
|
|||
| June 1972 |
87
|
151
|
359 (10.16)
|
|||
| Oct. 1942 |
90
|
155
|
447 (12.66)
|
|||
| Apr. 1937 |
85
|
150
|
347 (9.82)
|
|||
| Mar. 1936 |
91
|
156
|
484 (13.70)
|
|||
| Mar. 1924 |
>65
|
1391
|
||||
| 1889 |
>73
|
>1382
|
||||
| 1877 |
70
|
135
|
||||
| 1870 |
>60
|
>125
|
||||
| 1857 |
>60
|
>125
|
||||
| 1852 |
64
|
129
|
||||
| 1847 |
>58
|
>123
|
||||
| 1785 |
>80
|
>145
|
||||
| 1773 |
>75
|
>138
|
||||
|
1This is the level based on the photographic record at Lock 17 on the C&O Canal (National Park Service, 1991, p. 59). Lock 17 is directly across from
the lower observation platform (140 ft (43 m) asl) in Great Falls Park. 2Notes on the U.S. Geological Survey's Little Falls Gauge Station (01646500) webpage say that the "flood of June 2, 1889, was approximately the same magnitude as that of March 19, 1936." |
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