The case of the missing flood: the unrecorded flood of 1935 on the James River, Mason County, Texas

A substantial flood occurred on the James River in 1935, a south bank tributary to the Llano River in central Texas. No record of it exists in the official records although it took place at the same time as record-breaking floods elsewhere in the Colorado River basin and throughout Texas. The flood depth is estimated from oral records of water level on ranches along the James River and from newspaper reports. Flood magnitude is estimated by extrapolation from the larger of two recent floods along the James River and, to set an upper limit, by assuming critical flow across measured cross-sections. The frequency of large floods affects the time interval available for flood plain construction by moderate floods, and if high-magnitude floods ceased entirely, then wide bedrock channels might be converted to alluvial flood plain rivers within a century.