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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).

   
011512_0 011712_0 011712_1 012512_0 012712_0 020512_0 020712_0 020812_0 020912_0 022012_0 022112_0 022112_1 022212_0 030712_0 032412_0 041112_0 041212_0 041812_0 042212_0 042412_0 042912_0 043012_0 043012_1 050612_0 050612_1 050712_0 050812_0 051012_0 051012_1 051012_2 051112_0 051412_0 051612_0 051712_0 051712_1 051712_2 051812_0 052212_0 052312_0 052412_0 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 053012_0 053112_0 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060212_0 060412_0 060612_0 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061412_0 061412_1 061512_0 061612_0 061712_0 061812_0 061812_1 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062012_5 062112_0 062212_0 062212_1 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070312_0 070412_0 070512_0 070612_0 070712_0 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071012_3 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071412_4 071412_5 071512_0 071512_1 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 071912_3 071912_4 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072212_0 072212_1 072312_0 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 073112_4 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081512_0 081512_1 081612_0 081712_0 081912_0 082012_0 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082412_0 082412_1 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090212_3 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091112_3 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091212_3 091312_0 091412_0 091412_1 091412_2 091412_3 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091512_3 091512_4 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091712_1 091712_2 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092012_0 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092612_1 092812_0 092812_1 092812_2 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100512_0 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 101812_0 101812_1 101912_0 102112_0 102212_0 102212_1 102512_0 102612_0 102612_1 102612_2 102812_0 103012_0 110712_0 110812_0 110912_0 111612_0 111712_0 111812_0 111812_1 111812_2 111912_0 111912_1 112012_0 112212_0 112212_1 112312_0 112812_0 120212_0 120512_0 120512_1 120612_0 120612_1 120812_0 120912_0 120912_1 121012_0 121012_1 121112_0 122212_0 122612_0 122712_0 123012_0 123012_1 123112_0 123112_1

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.