Volume!

Question: Can you guess the volume of stormwater generated by a five-year, two-hour long storm from the area in the photograph?

By consulting the NOAA historical data below, we can assume that a 5-year, two-hour long storm could produce 2" of rain. (The upper red line indicates 1.5" of rain, while the lower red line indicated a 2'' precipitation band.)

A 2" rainfall on the predetermined 1.1 acres, yields 2.2 acre-inches ( An acre inch is the volume of 1" of water were it to sit atop of one acre of land);

2" of rain x 1.1 acres = 2.2 acre inches, when corrected for absorption, evaporation, etc., via the "simple method", translates to 6860.7 cubic feet of water generated in two hours just from this one area.

See Calculations page

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(http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/GHQ/hyd/graphics/2hour5.gif; 10/4/04)

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