Precipitation episodes in the upper Colorado River basin

Summary We wish to learn whether annual precipitation over the Colorado watershed is determined by occurrence or non-occurrence of a few large storms; or by other controls such as variations in frequency of minor disturbances. It is found that there is a semi-constant noise level of about six inches precipitation per year, composed of small rains. Occasional very large storms do contribute to rank order of annual precipitation over the available data sample which covers the period 1930–1960. However, most contribution to the rank order is derived from medium-sized storms yielding 0.3–1.2 inches of precipitation over the basin. Since storm yield depends mainly on duration rather than on precipitation intensity per day, a good correlation exists between annual precipitation and the number of days with precipitation above a certain threshold.