An Investigation of Clouds and Precipitation for the Texas High Plains Page: 59
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59
where Pv is the precipitable water contained in a layer of atmosphere Api
pressure units thick. The total precipitable water is then the sum of the
precipitable water contained in each layer, or
Pv = ZP
v v,
i i
Precipitable water is usually expressed as a length unit (cm) instead of a
mass unit. This is permissible since in the cgs system the density of water
is unity, making length and mass numerically equivalent in unit cross section.
In a recent report, Baker (1969) has made a statistical study of
the depth of precipitable water for five stations in western Texas and eastern
New Mexico. He found that a normal distribution adjusted for skewness and
kurtosis may be used to describe adequately the frequency distribution of the
observed depths of precipitable water grouped by pentads (5 day intervals).
The data for February 29 were neglected so that the data for one year could
be grouped into T3 pentads. Two of the stations used in the study, Amarillo
and Big Spring are located in the area being investigated in the present
research. The period on which the statistics were based at Amarillo was from
July 1952 through May 1965 while at Big Spring the period of record was from
July 1949 through May 1965.
The statistics derived by Baker have been used in the present inves-
tigation to construct percentage frequency ogives for precipitable water at
Amarillo and Big Spring. For the purposes of this study, the data at Big
Spring are considered to be applicable to Midland, since the stations are only
35 miles apart.
The frequency ogives for the seven months under investigation are
shown in Figure 20 for Amarillo and Figure 21 for Big Spring. The curves
indicate that at both stations, precipitable water increased from April to
a maximum in July and August and then decreased during September and October.
These curves will be used extensively in the next two sections as a standard
to compare precipitable water amounts during characteristically wet and dry
periods in the plains area.
In order to get some idea of the role played by precipitable water
in affecting precipitation, it was decided to compare measured precipitable
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Haragan, Donald R. An Investigation of Clouds and Precipitation for the Texas High Plains, report, March 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth839452/m1/71/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.