The Passaic Flood of 1903 | Page 3

Charlotteburg | 3.52 | 9.45 | 5.54 | 3.97 | 4.98 | 7.78 | 4.80 | 3.29 Ringwood | ... | 10.13 | ... | 3.08 | ... | 6.17 | ... | 3.06 Red Sandstone | | | | | | | | plain: | | | | | | | | Paterson | 4.31 | 11.17 | 5.32 | 5.40 | 4.31 | 10.89 | 4.86 | 2.88 Hanover | 3.32 | ... | 5.23 | 5.40 | 5.20 | 9.40 | 4.52 | ... River Vale | 3.17 | 10.62 | 4.87 | 3.41 | 4.17 | ... | 3.61 | 2.90 Essex Fells | 3.08 | ... | 7.03 | ... | 5.95 | ... | 3.67 | 1.80 Newark | 3.60 | 11.51 | 4.48 | 4.27 | 4.75 | 14.54 | 3.83 | 4.56 South Orange | 3.57 | 9.28 | 5.43 | 4.22 | 5.05 | 13.75 | 4.04 | 3.80 New York City | 3.13 | 7.42 | 4.26 | 3.23 | 4.70 | 5.96 | 3.72 | 2.60 Plainfield | 3.62 | 10.14 | 5.86 | 4.70 | 4.37 | 6.87 | 4.42 | 7.10 Elizabeth | 3.68 | 8.76 | 5.74 | 4.31 | 4.26 | 7.15 | 4.14 | 4.38 -----------------+--------------+--------------+------|-------+------+-----
An examination of the above table shows that throughout the summer of 1903 the precipitation was considerably above normal. The records for June and August indicate extremely wet months, and the July figures are slightly above while the September figures are somewhat below normal. The important fact shown by this table is that disastrous floods may occur after long periods of abundant rains. It has been observed that heavy precipitation may be expected after protracted periods of drought. Such a belief is not altogether fanciful. In the northeastern part of this country the total amount of precipitation is approximately uniform from year to year. The variations, comparatively speaking, are not very wide, and we are therefore led to expect that there are in operation influences which serve to compensate for excesses or deficiencies in our annual rainfall. Therefore after the abundant precipitation of the summer of 1903, an observer might have had some measure of justification in predicting a normally or abnormally dry fall. In view of the actual events the fact must be emphasized that in adopting measures to prevent floods the margin of safety must be extremely wide. The extraordinary rainfall of those three October days can not with assurance be accepted as the maximum.
Precipitation, in inches, in Passaic Valley and vicinity, October 7 to 11, 1903.
---------------------+------------------+------------------+-------- | From-- | To-- | Station. +------+-----------+------+-----------+ Amount. | Day. | Hour. | Day. | Hour. | ---------------------+------+-----------+------+-----------+-------- Highland region: | | | | | Dover | 7 | | 11 | 9 p.m. | 10.13 Little Falls | 7 | 4 a.m. | 11 | 7 a.m. | 14.13 Charlotteburg | 7 | | 10 | | 12.67 Ringwood | 8 | 11 a.m. | 9 | 8 p.m. | 10.63 | | | | | Red Sandstone plain: | | | | | Paterson | 7 | 5 a.m. | 9 | 3.45 p.m. | 15.04 River Vale | 8 | 8 a.m. | 11 | 6 p.m. | 12.55 Essex Fells | 8 | | 9 | 4 p.m. | 10.66 Newark | 8 | 8.30 a.m. | 11 | 5 a.m. | 12.09 South Orange | 8 | 6 a.m. | 10 | Night | 10.48 ---------------------+------+-----------+------+-----------+--------
The extremely rapid rate of precipitation during the crucial part of the storm is shown by the recording gages placed at observation stations in Newark and New York City.
Hourly records of precipitation at New York observation station, October 8 and 9, 1903.
Inches.
Oct. 8, 9 to 10 a. m. 0.08 10 to 11 a. m. .02 11 to 12 m. .32 12 m. to 1 p. m. .10 1 to 2 p. m. .05 2 to 3 p. m. .06 3 to 4 p. m. .34 4 to 5 p. m. .01 5 to 6 p. m. .10 6 to 7 p. m. .02 7 to 8 p. m. .93 8 to 9 p. m. .32 9 to 10 p. m. .24 10 to 11 p. m. .27 11 to 12 p. m. .26 9, 12 to 1 a. m. .30 Oct. 9, 1 to 2 a. m. 0.25 2 to 3 a. m. .75 3 to 4 a. m. .34 4 to 5 a. m. .46 5 to 6 a. m. .41 6 to 7 a. m. .29 7 to 8 a. m. .51 8 to 9 a. m. 1.38 9 to 10 a. m. 1.04 10 to 11 a. m. .08 11 to 12 m. .23 12 m. to 1 p. m. .24 1 to 2 p. m. .31