Snow pack drainages

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Article up on MSN tonight - they just had a major snowstorm in Hawaii - a upper low pressure system locked in over them and it just kept snowing and snowing. It talks about the major and unmeasureable depths in the Sierra and states that right now we are looking a potentially an all-time record for rainfall -- and this is what caught my eye: " you have to go back to the winter of 1982/1983 for a snowpack as deep as it currently is".......
 
""And honestly I don't know if the Green contributes more to Lake Powell or the Colorado. But I do know that the Green River is longer than the Colorado River. I guess that's what I meant by "bigger" above. Not actually "bigger", but certainly longer. ""

Well, I'm not so sure about your length measurents. But when it comes to flow, it may depend on the year, but I would bet on the Colorado. But in some years, if the Wind Rivers and Uintahs and NW Colorado have big snow totals, while Central Colorado does not, and in years where Flaming Gorge is full, then the Green might have the higher flow where it meets the Colorado.
 
Gem Morris said:
It's unconventional for the bigger of 2 rivers above a confluence to NOT have the name of the river below the confluence. Does that make sense? Couldn't figure out how to word that more clearly.

But that is exactly what happened in the case of the "Colorado" River and the Green River. Above the confluence of these 2 rivers, the smaller river (currently named "Colorado") was named the "Grand River". This is where "Grand" Junction comes from and "Grand" Mesa - because the river that runs past them used to be named "Grand". A delegation of Colorado politicians didn't like the thought of the Colorado River running through Utah so they lobbied the powers that were and got the Grand River name changed to Colorado.

That's a long story to a short question.

And honestly I don't know if the Green contributes more to Lake Powell or the Colorado. But I do know that the Green River is longer than the Colorado River. I guess that's what I meant by "bigger" above. Not actually "bigger", but certainly longer.
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Interesting point. It reminds me of the same issue in Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny and the Monongahela join together to form the Ohio River. That doesn't make sense to me either.
 
I just looked it up. The mean annual discharge for the Green at Green River Utah is 6,120 CFS. The Colorado is 6,020 CFS, at the Utah border. That is from for 1951-2016 water data. So for all intents and purposes, they are the same size in terms of how much water is contributed....
 
Mark said:
""And honestly I don't know if the Green contributes more to Lake Powell or the Colorado. But I do know that the Green River is longer than the Colorado River. I guess that's what I meant by "bigger" above. Not actually "bigger", but certainly longer. ""

Well, I'm not so sure about your length measurents. But when it comes to flow, it may depend on the year, but I would bet on the Colorado. But in some years, if the Wind Rivers and Uintahs and NW Colorado have big snow totals, while Central Colorado does not, and in years where Flaming Gorge is full, then the Green might have the higher flow where it meets the Colorado.
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The head waters of the Colorado River are in Colorado.

The head waters of the Green River are in Wyoming (not Utah as you might have guessed)

All of Wyoming is NORTH of all of Colorado, hence the Green River is longer than the Colorado River
 
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