Skip navigation

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).

   
010512_0 010712_0 010812_0 010912_0 011012_0 011012_1 011112_0 011212_0 011312_0 011312_1 011412_0 011412_1 011512_0 012612_0 012612_1 020112_0 020812_0 021512_0 021612_0 030612_0 030912_0 031012_0 031112_0 031212_0 031312_0 031712_0 032312_0 032612_0 040512_0 040912_0 041112_0 042112_0 042112_1 042312_0 050312_0 050512_0 050612_0 050612_1 050612_2 050612_3 050712_0 050812_0 050812_1 050812_2 050812_3 050812_4 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051012_1 051112_0 051212_0 051312_0 051412_0 051712_0 051712_1 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052512_0 052612_0 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052712_3 052712_4 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060212_0 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060312_3 060312_4 060312_5 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060412_3 060412_4 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060512_3 060512_4 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060712_3 060712_4 060812_0 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061212_0 061212_1 061412_0 061712_0 061812_0 061912_0 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062312_4 062312_5 062312_6 062312_7 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062412_3 062412_4 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062512_3 062512_4 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062612_3 062612_4 062612_5 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_3 063012_4 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070512_4 070512_5 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070712_0 070812_0 071012_0 071112_0 071412_0 071512_0 071512_1 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071812_4 071912_0 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072212_1 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 072912_4 073012_0 073112_0 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080412_4 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080512_3 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081412_4 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082512_3 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 090112_0 090212_0 090512_0 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090712_3 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091112_0 091112_1 091312_0 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091712_1 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092012_0 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092412_0 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 092912_0 093012_0 093012_1 100112_0 100112_1 100212_0 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_0 100612_1 100612_2 101112_0 101112_1 101212_0 101412_0 101612_0 101712_0 101812_0 101912_0 102112_0 103012_0 103112_0 110312_0 110312_1 110612_0 110812_0 110912_0 111212_0 111812_0 112112_0 112512_0 112612_0 112912_0 112912_1 112912_2 113012_0 120112_0 120512_0 121212_0 121212_1 121312_0 121312_1 121312_2 121612_0 121712_0 121812_0 121912_0 123012_0 123012_1 123112_0 123112_1 123112_2

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.