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USGS: Yellowstone Flood Was Once-In-500-Years Event

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By NPT Staff - June 17th, 2022

North Entrance Road damage at Yellowstone National Park/NPS, Jacob W. Frank

Flooding that ripped through Yellowstone National Park this week could be considered a "once in 500 years" event, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

While Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly earlier this week recounted overhearing someone peg the storm as a "once in a thousand years" event, USGS based its conclusion on stream flows of the Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs just north of the national park, and at Livingston, Montana, farther north.

Streamflow data have been collected for around 100 years at three USGS streamgages on the Yellowstone River in southern Montana and can be used to provide probability of events occurring, the agency said Friday.

“At two streamgages, Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs and Yellowstone River at Livingston, the peak streamflow was higher than the 0.2% (or 1 in 500) flood during the recent flood event,” said Katherine Chase, USGS hydrologist. “While these floods are often referred to as greater than (or rarer than) a 1 in 500-year event, there is the same probability that they could occur in any given year.” 

The provisional streamflow recorded on the Yellowstone River at Billings was between the 1% (or 1 in 100) and 0.2% (1 in 500) flood. All streamflow data are currently being reported as “provisional” until follow up analyses of the stream channel and data are completed. 

More information from the USGS about flood frequencies can be found online. 

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