Peak discharges and flow volumes for streams in the Northern Plains, 1996-97

Winter snowfall of 1996-97, combined with the spring floods of 1997, caused one of the worst natural disasters in recent history on the Northern Plains. The flow volumes for water year 1997 at selected streamflow-gaging stations on the Red River of the North, the Minnesota River, and the James River were 186 to 788 percent of the mean annual volumes for the periods of record for those stations. Recurrence intervals ranged from 10 to 500 years.