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).

   
010812_0 021012_0 021112_0 022212_0 022312_0 030312_0 031812_0 032612_0 032712_0 033012_0 033112_0 040812_0 040912_0 041312_0 041412_0 041812_0 042012_0 042812_0 050112_0 050812_0 050812_1 051312_0 051712_0 051712_1 051912_0 052012_0 052212_0 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053112_0 053112_1 060212_0 060212_1 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060512_3 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061212_3 061212_4 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061312_3 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 062012_0 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071312_0 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 071912_3 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072112_0 072212_0 072212_1 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072312_4 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 080212_0 080312_0 080412_0 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081212_0 081312_0 081412_0 081412_1 081612_0 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_0 081912_0 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082812_3 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083012_3 083012_4 083112_0 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090212_0 090212_1 090412_0 090712_0 090712_1 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091112_0 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091312_0 091312_1 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091512_3 091512_4 091512_5 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091612_3 091612_4 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 091912_3 092012_0 092012_1 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092312_1 092312_2 092312_3 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092612_1 092712_0 092812_0 092812_1 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 101112_0 101112_1 101212_0 101212_1 101612_0 101912_0 102012_0 102312_0 102312_1 102312_2 102512_0 102512_1 102612_0 102812_0 102812_1 102912_0 110312_0 110412_0 110812_0 110912_0 110912_1 111012_0 111012_1 111212_0 112112_0 121412_0 121512_0 121512_1 121612_0 121712_0 121912_0 122012_0 122512_0 122812_0 122812_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.