Abstract

Frequencies of precipitation with different magnitudes were analyzed for the middle-upper Chattahoochee River Basin in north Georgia for the period 1930 to 1989. A combination of an increased annual precipitation and a decreased annual number of rainfall days indicated that mean daily precipitation increased during the study period. Most of the decrease in the number of rainfall days was accounted for by the decrease in the number of days of light precipitation. During the same period, increasing trends were found in the occurrence of moderate to heavy precipitation days. Such temporal changes in the precipitation regime in the area may be partially responsible for the increased flooding conditions in the Atlanta metropolitan area in recent years. These changes may also cause greater streamflow variability and impose difficulties in water resources planning and management.

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