Climate and hydrographic characteristics of the Toplodolska river basin

Toplodolska river drains a part of the slopes of Old Mountain and represents the left component of the Temštica river. Basin area of this river is 138.2 km and within it there are only two smaller villages: Topli Do and Zaskovci. The closest village to them is the village of Temska which is about 15 km far from Topli Do and connected with it by the asphalt road. In the morphological sense, this basin are is surrounded by the highest peaks which are Brezovička Čuka in the west (1281 m), Rudno (1672), Babin Zub (1757), Vojvodin Venac (1671), and in the north by Žarkova Čuka (1848), Prilepski Vrh (1906), Tupanar (1959 and 1956), Midžor (2169), Orlovski Kamik (1994), Martinova Čuka (1989) and in the east a dividing ridge goes across following peaks: Vražja Glava (1934), Krvava Bara (1810), Lazarevi Jagreci (1874), Bratkova Strana (1943), Mramor (1759), Belan (1592) and Stražiste (1946). In the south it connects with the Visočica river forming Temštica river which flows further to the south until it flows into the river Nišava at Staničenje village. Hydrograph net developed within the Toplodolska river basin is of dentritic type with great number of occasional flows. The flows are of big gradients and have a character of a current. The regime of the Toplodolska river and also of its main components Javorska and Rekitska river which are its main tributaries depends in the first place on snow melting and spring rains. Its maximum is usually during the spring months depending on the higher temperatures of air which lead to melting of snow cover. Consequentially, the months of March, April and May are the months when the flows are at its peak and when on avereage about half of the total annual water quantity flows through the Toplodolska river basin.