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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).

   
010112_0 011512_0 011912_0 012112_0 012112_1 012212_0 020212_0 020612_0 020712_0 022612_0 022812_0 030812_0 031312_0 031412_0 031512_0 031512_1 032912_0 040712_0 041412_0 041512_0 041512_1 041612_0 041712_0 041712_1 041812_0 042212_0 042212_1 042312_0 042312_1 042412_0 042412_1 042512_0 042512_1 042612_0 042812_0 043012_0 050112_0 050112_1 050212_0 050312_0 050312_1 050412_0 050612_0 051112_0 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051512_0 051512_1 051712_0 051712_1 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052212_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052612_1 052612_2 052612_3 052612_4 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 053012_0 053012_1 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060712_0 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061212_3 061212_4 061212_5 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061312_3 061312_4 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061412_3 061412_4 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_3 061712_4 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 061912_1 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062212_1 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062912_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070712_4 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 070912_4 070912_5 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071112_3 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071212_3 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071312_4 071312_5 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071712_0 071812_0 071812_1 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072112_3 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072212_4 072212_5 072212_6 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072412_4 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072712_0 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080212_3 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080412_4 080512_0 080612_0 080712_0 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 081912_3 081912_4 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082512_3 082612_0 082712_0 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090612_0 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091112_0 091312_0 091412_0 091512_0 091612_0 091712_0 091712_1 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092412_1 092512_0 092612_0 092712_0 092712_1 092812_0 092912_0 093012_0 093012_1 100112_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_0 100912_0 101312_0 101612_0 102112_0 102212_0 102412_0 102512_0 102512_1 102512_2 102612_0 102712_0 102812_0 102812_1 110212_0 110312_0 110412_0 110812_0 112912_0 120112_0 120112_1 121312_0 121312_1 121912_0 121912_1 122012_0 122112_0 122212_0 122212_1 122312_0 122912_0 122912_1 123012_0 123012_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.