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| Created: | Oct 07, 2026 at 6:04 p.m. (UTC) | |
| Last updated: | Oct 07, 2026 at 10:41 p.m. (UTC) (Metadata update) | |
| Published date: | Oct 07, 2026 at 10:40 p.m. (UTC) | |
| DOI: | 10.4211/hs.406ca08f6c354c57ac4b02404a598b17 | |
| Citation: | See how to cite this resource | |
| Content types: | CSV Content |
| Sharing Status: | Published |
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Abstract
Digitized bucket survey rainfall observations for the 17–18 July 1942 Smethport, Pennsylvania storm, which produced the world-record 780 mm accumulation in 270 minutes. The data set contains 440 rainfall measurements from 358 sites, digitized from Table 2 of Eisenlohr (1952, USGS Water-Supply Paper). Each record includes site location, rainfall accumulation (inches and mm), accumulation type (storm total, lower bound from overflow, or partial-storm accumulation), observation times, hail reports and observer notes. The U.S. Weather Bureau isohyetal map of storm total rainfall is included. The data are described in Smith et al. (in press), Water Resources Research. See README.md for column definitions and conventions.
Subject Keywords
Coverage
Spatial
Temporal
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Content
README.md
Bucket Survey Rainfall Observations for the 17–18 July 1942 Smethport, Pennsylvania Storm [Dataset]
Overview
This data set contains the bucket survey rainfall observations from Table 2 of Eisenlohr (1952), digitized for the 17–18 July 1942 Smethport, Pennsylvania storm. It has 440 rainfall measurements from 358 measurement sites. Measurements include world record rainfall accumulations for 10 minutes (165 mm), 25 minutes (240 mm) and 270 minutes (780 mm). The data set includes notes for the observing site, including observations on timing of storm elements.
The data are described and analyzed in Smith et al. 2026.
Files
| File | Contents |
|---|---|
Smethport_Bucket_Survey.csv |
The digitized bucket survey observations (440 rows). |
SmethportMapUSWB.pdf |
Full-resolution scan of the U.S. Weather Bureau isohyetal map described in Eisenlohr, (1952). |
README.md |
This file. |
Isohyetal map
The isohyetal map for the storm of 17–18 July 1942 was developed by the U.S. Weather Bureau (USWB, 1942; USACE, 1947; Eisenlohr, 1952). It shows:
- storm total isohyets, in inches;
- the location of each bucket survey observation;
- the quadrangles used in the
obs_codesite identifiers.
File format
- Comma-separated values with a header row, ASCII encoding.
- Missing values are left blank.
- Text fields that contain commas are enclosed in double quotes.
Time convention
All times are decimal hours relative to 00:00 on 18 July 1942. Negative values fall on the evening of 17 July. For example, –2 is 10:00 pm on 17 July, and 10.5 is 10:30 am on 18 July. Times are local times as reported in Eisenlohr (1952).
Column definitions
| Column | Units | Description |
|---|---|---|
table_id |
— | Numerical site identifier from Table 2 of Eisenlohr (1952). |
obs_code |
— | Quadrangle-based site code with three parts: (1) a 1–2 character quadrangle identifier; (2) a digit from 1 to 9 for position within the quadrangle (a 3 × 3 grid numbered row by row from the northwest, so 6 is the second row, third column); (3) a lower-case letter for north–south position within that sub-quadrangle, with "a" the northernmost. The quadrangles are shown on the isohyetal map. |
lat_decimal |
degrees N | Latitude. |
lon_decimal |
degrees E | Longitude. Values are negative, i.e. west of Greenwich. |
rainfall_in |
inches | Rainfall accumulation as reported in Eisenlohr (1952). |
rainfall_mm |
mm | rainfall_in × 25.4, rounded to 0.1 mm. |
indicator |
— | Type of accumulation: 0 = storm total; 1 = lower bound, because the container filled and overflowed; 2 = accumulation for a period shorter than the storm duration. |
start_time |
h | Start time of the accumulation (see Time convention). |
end_time |
h | End time of the accumulation. |
hail_present |
— | 1 if hail was reported at the site, otherwise 0. |
hail_time |
text | Timing of hail as reported. This is free text in mixed formats (e.g. "9:30am", "11pm on 17th", "4 to 4:30 pm"). Bare numbers such as "18" are hours in the convention above. The field is blank when no time was given. |
notes |
text | A condensed version of the notes for the site in Table 2 of Eisenlohr (1952). |
References
Eisenlohr, W. S., Jr. (1952). Floods of July 18, 1942, in north-central Pennsylvania. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1134-B.
Smith, J. A., Baeck, M. L., England, J. F., Jr., Yang, L., Schumacher, R. S., & Mahoney, K. (in press). Probable maximum precipitation: The Smethport Challenge. Water Resources Research, 2026.
USACE (1947). Storm rainfall and depth-area-duration analysis, storm of 17–18 July 1942 (Tech. Rep. No. OR 9-23). Pittsburgh District: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
USWB (1942). Storm of July 17–18, 1942 (Hydrometeorological Supplement). Hydrometeorological Unit, Albany, NY: U.S. Weather Bureau.
License
CC BY 4.0
Related Resources
| This resource is described by | Smith, J.A., M.L. Baeck, J. F. England Jr., L. Yang, R. S. Schumacher and K. Mahoney, Probable Maximum Precipitation: The Smethport Challenge, Water Resources Research, to appear, 2026. |
| The content of this resource is derived from | Eisenlohr, W. S. (1952). Floods of July 18, 1942 in north-central Pennsylvania (U.S. Geological Water Supply Paper No. 1134-B). USGS. |
How to Cite
This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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