The climate of the area is characterized by those fluctuations of
temperature, wind, and rainfall typical of the Great Plains. The mean
annual temperature is 58 degrees; the mean July temperature is 81
degrees; the mean January temperature is approximately 34 degrees. The
mean annual precipitation is 32.9 in Cowley County, 38.5 in Chautauqua
County, and 35.1 in Elk County. Wind movement is great; Flora (1948:6)
states that south-central Kansas ranks close to some of the windiest
inland areas in the United States.
The area has been periodically subjected to droughts and floods. Such
phenomena are of special interest to ichthyological workers in the area.
At the time of this study drought conditions, which began in 1952,
prevailed. Even in this period of drought, however, flooding occurred on
Grouse Creek and water was high in Big Caney River after heavy local
rains on the headwaters of these streams on June 22, 1956. Some of the
lower tributaries of these same streams (such as Crab Creek and Cedar
Creek) did not flow while the mainstreams were flooding. This
illustrates the local nature of many of the summer rains in the area.
Table 1 indicates maximum, minimum, and average discharges in cubic feet
per second at several stations in the area and on nearby streams. These
figures were provided by the U. S. Geological Survey.
TABLE 1.--CUBIC FEET PER SECOND OF WATER DISCHARGED AT GAUGING
STATIONS IN CHAUTAUQUA, ELK, MONTGOMERY, AND COWLEY
COUNTIES FOR YEARS PRIOR TO 1951.
=======================================================================
Gauging |Drainage |Avg |Maximum| |Minimum|
station |area |dis- |dis- | |dis- |
|(sq. mi.)|charge|charge | Date |charge | Date
---------------|---------|------|-------|----------|-------|-----------
Arkansas River | 43,713 |1,630 |103,000| June 10, | 1 |October 9,
at Arkansas | | | | 1923 | | 1921
City | | | | | |
---------------|---------|------|-------|----------|-------|----------
Walnut River | 1,840 | 738 |105,000| April 23,| 0 |1928, 1936
at Winfield | | | | 1944 | |
---------------|---------|------|-------|----------|-------|----------
Big Caney River| 445 | 264 | 35,500| April 10,| 0 |1939, 1940,
at Elgin | | | | 1944 | |1946, 1947
---------------|---------|------|-------|----------|-------|----------
Elk River near | 575 | 393 | 39,200| April 16,| 0 |1939, 1940,
Elk City | | | | 1945 | |1946
---------------|---------|------|-------|----------|-------|----------
Fall River near| 591 | 359 | 45,600| April 16,| 0 |1939, 1940,
Fall River | | | | 1945 | |1946
---------------|---------|------|-------|----------|-------|----------
Verdigris River| 2,892 |1,649 |117,000| April 17,| 0 |1932, 1934,
at Independence| | | | 1945 | |1936, 1939,
| | | | | |1940
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Something of the effect that drought and flash-flood have had on Big
Caney River is shown by the monthly means of daily discharge from
October, 1954, to September, 1956, at the stream-gauging station near
Elgin, Kansas (Table 2). Within these monthly variations there are also
pronounced daily fluctuations; on Big Caney River approximately 1/4 mile
south of Elgin, Kansas, discharge in cubic feet per second for May,
1944, ranged from .7 to 9,270.0 and for May, 1956, from .03 to 20.0.
TABLE 2.--MONTHLY MEANS OF DAILY DISCHARGE IN CUBIC FEET PER
SECOND FOR BIG CANEY RIVER AT ELGIN, KANSAS
_Month_ _1954-55_ _1955-56_
October 103.00 69.60
November .31 .78
December .18 1.92
January .78 1.65
February 4.76 2.08
March 3.37 1.27
April 4.91 .47
May 624.00 7.37
June 51.30 35.20
July 1.20 1.85
August 0.00 0.00
September .04 0.00