Abstract: | ABSTRACT: Recent occurrences of heavy rainfall in New Orleans, Louisiana, have led to speculation that the local heavy rainfall regime has changed. To objectively determine the validity of these speculations, changing magnitudes of storm rainfall were investigated through an examination of the annual maximum storm series from 1871 to 1991 at the New Federal site. Although a long-term trend was not found, the Wilcoxon test indicated that magnitudes during the last 14 years (from 1978–1991) differed significantly from the rest of the series. |