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 IVMRMSPRISMCONUS404      Current maps  Interactive maps of past events
Select average recurrence interval: 10-year100-year1000-year
Select duration: 72-hour48-hour24-hour6-hour
Select year: 200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025

Left arrow for previous frame, right arrow for next, space to pause/play; click to open image in new tab. Date of each event is listed as "mmddhh" (2-digit month, 2-digit day, 2-digit hour for end of accumulation period).

   
010712 020312 020412 020512 020612 020812 020912 021012 021512 021612 022712 022812 030212 030312 030512 030612 030712 031112 031312 031412 031512 031612 031812 032212 032412 032512 032612 032712 032812 032912 040112 040512 040612 040712 040812 041012 041512 041612 041712 041812 041912 042212 042512 042612 042712 042812 042912 043012 050112 050212 050312 050512 050612 050712 050812 050912 051012 052012 052112 052312 052412 052612 052912 053012 060212 060312 060412 060712 060812 060912 061012 061312 061412 061512 061612 061712 061812 061912 062012 062112 062212 062512 062612 062712 062812 062912 063012 070112 070212 070412 070712 071012 071112 071312 071412 071512 071612 071712 071812 071912 072012 072212 072312 072512 072612 072712 072812 072912 073012 073112 080512 080612 080712 080912 081012 081112 081212 081312 081412 081512 081612 081712 081912 082012 082112 082212 082312 082412 082512 082612 082712 083012 090312 090412 090912 091012 091212 091312 091612 091712 091812 091912 092612 092712 092812 101012 101712 101812 102012 102412 102912 110112 110312 110412 110512 110612 110712 110812 110912 111212 111312 111612 111712 111912 112212 112312 112412 112512 112712 120812 120912 121012 121412 121512 121612 121712 121812 122312 122412 122512 122612 122712 122812 122912 123012 123112

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.