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Monitoring of heavy precipitation events

These images show locations where average recurrence intervals for precipitation have been exceeded. These are referred to, for example, as "100-year rainstorms", though this terminology can cause confusion, so a more accurate description is "less than a 1% probability of occurring at a given location in any given year." This is an automated search for the types of events discussed in Schumacher and Johnson (2005, 2006) and Stevenson and Schumacher (2014), using gridded precipitation analyses, as well as updated to use NOAA's Atlas 14 to define the average recurrence intervals. (In the states of Washington and Oregon, Atlas 14 has not yet been updated, so no points are shown.) Archived images from past events when the thresholds have been exceeded are shown below.

Each dataset has been regridded to a 4-km latitude-longitude grid (the same grid used by the PRISM Climate Group) prior to calculating the exceedance points. This allows for a closer "apples-to-apples" comparison between precipitation datasets. The archive of past events is actively under development; if you don't yet see images for a particular dataset/duration, check back soon! Recent data (e.g., within the current year) has not undergone quality control, so use recent maps with caution.


Select dataset: Stage IVMRMSPRISMCONUS404CoCoRaHS      Current maps  Interactive maps of past events
Select average recurrence interval: 10-year100-year1000-year
Select duration: 72-hour48-hour24-hour6-hour
Select year: 198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022

Left arrow for previous frame, right arrow for next, space to pause/play; click to open image in new tab. Each event is listed as "mmddhh_e" (2-digit month, 2-digit day, 2-digit hour for end of accumulation period, one digit for the event number on this date).

   
010212_0 010312_0 010412_0 010512_0 010512_1 010612_0 012112_0 012412_0 013112_0 020312_0 021112_0 021212_0 021412_0 021412_1 021512_0 021612_0 021612_1 022112_0 022612_0 031012_0 031212_0 031212_1 031212_2 031812_0 040112_0 040312_0 040912_0 041112_0 041212_0 041212_1 041712_0 042012_0 042012_1 042512_0 042612_0 042612_1 042712_0 042812_0 050112_0 050112_1 050512_0 050612_0 051012_0 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051312_1 051312_2 051312_3 051412_0 051412_1 051512_0 051512_1 051712_0 051712_1 051712_2 051712_3 051812_0 051912_0 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052112_0 052212_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052412_3 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052512_4 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052812_3 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053012_3 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 053112_3 060112_0 060112_1 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060512_0 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061812_1 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062412_3 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070812_0 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071212_3 071412_0 071412_1 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_3 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_0 072212_0 072312_0 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072712_0 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072812_4 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080712_3 080712_4 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 080912_3 080912_4 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 082112_0 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082412_0 082512_0 082512_1 082612_0 082612_1 082712_0 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 090112_0 090112_1 090212_0 090312_0 090512_0 090912_0 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091312_0 091312_1 091412_0 091412_1 091412_2 091412_3 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091512_3 091512_4 091512_5 091612_0 091912_0 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092612_1 092712_0 092712_1 092712_2 092812_0 092912_0 093012_0 100112_0 100112_1 100112_2 100412_0 100612_0 100612_1 100612_2 100712_0 100712_1 100712_2 100812_0 100912_0 100912_1 100912_2 101012_0 101012_1 101012_2 101012_3 101112_0 102312_0 102612_0 102712_0 102812_0 103012_0 110212_0 110712_0 111712_0 111912_0 112312_0 112412_0 120112_0 120112_1 120312_0 120412_0 120412_1 120412_2 120912_0 121012_0 121612_0 121712_0 122112_0 122112_1 122212_0 122212_1 122312_0 122612_0 122712_0

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. AGS-2337380. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.



DISCLAIMER: The images and data on this site are intended for meteorological education and research purposes and, although they should generally be up to date, are not monitored at all times. Do not use for making decisions where money or lives are at stake. For official forecasts and warnings, visit the National Weather Service.