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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 010212_1 010612_0 011312_0 012412_0 012812_0 020412_0 020412_1 020712_0 021312_0 021312_1 021512_0 022012_0 022412_0 022512_0 030512_0 030512_1 030912_0 031012_0 031812_0 031812_1 032112_0 032712_0 032812_0 040612_0 041212_0 041312_0 041512_0 041712_0 041812_0 041912_0 041912_1 042012_0 042012_1 042112_0 042212_0 042312_0 050312_0 050512_0 050812_0 051212_0 051512_0 051612_0 051612_1 051712_0 051712_1 051812_0 051812_1 051912_0 051912_1 052112_0 052112_1 052212_0 052212_1 052212_2 052312_0 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_0 052612_0 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052912_0 053012_0 053112_0 060112_0 060212_0 060212_1 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 060912_4 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061112_0 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061512_3 061612_0 061612_1 061712_0 061712_1 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062412_0 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_3 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070112_4 070112_5 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070312_3 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070512_1 070812_0 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071512_0 071612_0 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071812_0 071812_1 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072412_4 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072912_0 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080212_0 080312_0 080612_0 080612_1 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080712_3 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080812_3 080912_0 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081512_0 081512_1 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 082012_0 082112_0 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082512_3 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082712_3 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083112_0 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090312_0 090412_0 090412_1 090412_2 090512_0 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090612_3 090612_4 090712_0 090712_1 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091112_0 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091612_3 091712_0 091712_1 091812_0 091912_0 092012_0 092012_1 092012_2 092112_0 092112_1 092212_0 092212_1 092412_0 092612_0 092612_1 092712_0 092912_0 100412_0 100412_1 100512_0 100512_1 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101612_0 102312_0 102412_0 102512_0 102512_1 102512_2 103112_0 103112_1 110212_0 110212_1 110412_0 110512_0 111112_0 111112_1 111212_0 111812_0 111912_0 112112_0 112112_1 112212_0 112212_1 120412_0 120512_0 120812_0 120912_0 121412_0 121712_0 121712_1 122912_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.