River Outflow of the Conterminous United States, 1939–1988

A record of 50 years of daily outflows through the boundaries of the continental United States has been assembled based on observations recorded by U.S. Geological Survey streamflow stations. Only stations with continuous records from 1939 through 1988 were included. These stations (197 total) are near the outlets of rivers located at the vicinity of the Canadian, Mexican, Atlantic (including the Gulf of Mexico), and Pacific borders of the continental United States. The drainage area of the selected stations covers 77% of the conterminous United States, whereas the existing network of gauging stations covers 83% of the conterminous U.S. area. Station daily data were aggregated over the entire boundary of the United States and were integrated in monthly and annual totals. The 50-year average annual streamflow divergence normalized by the aggregated drainage area is 210.2 mm yr−1 reaching a peak in April with 27.3 mm month−1 and a minimum in September with 8.7 mm month−1. The Mississippi–Missouri Basin comp...