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freshet

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freshet

1. the sudden overflowing of a river caused by heavy rain or melting snow
2. a stream of fresh water emptying into the sea
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

freshet

[′fresh·ət]
(hydrology)
The annual spring rise of streams in cold climates as a result of melting snow.
A flood resulting from either rain or melting snow; usually applied only to small streams and to floods of minor severity.
A small fresh-water stream.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Freshet

 

a comparatively short and aperiodic rise in the water level of a river occurring as a result of the rapid melting of snow in a thaw, the melting of glaciers, abundant rainfall, or the release of water from reservoirs. Unlike seasonal high water, a freshet may occur at any time of the year. If a freshet occurs because of a rapid increase in the discharge of water in a certain segment of a river, it rapidly spreads downstream at up to 5 km/hr in rivers on level ground and 45 km/hr in mountain rivers. The height of such a freshet usually decreases downstream, but its duration increases. A large freshet may cause a flood.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
I was at ShopRite this afternoon, and the parking signs were slamming against the blacktop and then popping back up." "That's why you weren't around when the fire department came through announcing a voluntary evacuation," Polly Freshet said.
Environmental significance of freshets in reducing Perkinsus marinus infection in eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica: potential management applications.
After the spring freshet prominently present in northern rivers, an absence of substantial surface runoff (from snowmelt, rainfall, or river inflow) leaves groundwater as the principal contributor to streamflow.
By September, the seemingly endless rainy season had soaked the lowlands and the first flakes that would become part of next year's freshet began to accumulate in the mountains.
Joseph crossing the Powder River in Colorado: "A freshet has washed away the bridge.
Most such collections were comparatively small private ones until the freshet of medical periodical publishing started gushing in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Another three protocols that are substantially more sophisticated than the rest are Deluge [3], MNP [4] and Freshet [5].
But the consequence of a failure of revaluation to achieve the results sought by its advocates would likely be a freshet of hostile charges and counter charges with adverse effects on U.S.-China relations.
John Gross of Springfield's Roaring Fork Guide Service on some of the area's best bets for fishing: "Fishermen on the Siuslaw reported good fishing for about five days following the last freshet. Meanwhile, fishing for coho with spinners and small plugs has been somewhat sporadic at Siltcoos Lake south of Florence.
I learned about the Freshet and the overabundance of nutrients it brings to the ecosystem.
A February 1838 freshet tore the Governor Mason from its midtown mooring and carried it several blocks beyond the east bank of the river, where it was left aground when the water receded.
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