Flood Chronology of the Carson River Basin, California and Nevada
March 1907
Flooding resulted from a series of storms that started out as snow but then turned to rain. Heavy snows started on March 16 and extended down to Valley floors. The storm warmed and then turned to rain which continued until March 20. Rain fell across the entire watershed, even the highest mountain crests. Extensive damage occurred. In Carson Valley, all bridges over the East Fork, West Fork and main-stem Carson River were destroyed or severely damaged. Agricultural land was severely impacted along with irrigation structures. Residents living near the river or in low areas were forced to move to higher ground. Schools in Carson Valley that were impacted by flood waters were forced to temporarily close. The Virginia and Truckee (V&T) railroad in Carson Valley was severely damaged and closed for 6 weeks, which had a large affect on the economy of Carson Valley. The river crested with a mean daily discharge of 4,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) on March 18 at the former USGS gaging station on the Carson River near Empire (east side of Carson City). Flooding in this section of the river destroyed several bridges and dams which were used by mills for mining and ore-processing.
Available Flood Information:
Meteorological:
Type of event: rain-on-snow
Description:
No recorded precipitation is available. Information is anecdotal. Heavy snows fell on March 16, 1907, and extended down to the valley floors, covering much of the Carson River Basin (Rigby and others, 1998). Precipitation turned to rain which continued until March 20.
References:
Rigby, J.G., Crompton, E.J., Berry, K.A., Yildirim, U., Hickman, S.F., and Davis, D.A., 1998, The 1997 New Year's Floods in Western Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication 23, p. 87.
Hydrologic Data:
To view hydrologic data, select a gaging station from the list below:
