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: 201820192020202120222023202420252026

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).

   
010912_0 011012_1 011312_0 022212_0 022312_0 030212_0 031512_0 032212_0 032312_0 032312_1 032712_0 032912_0 040412_1 041012_0 041512_0 050112_0 050112_1 050212_0 050312_1 050312_2 050612_0 050912_0 051012_0 051112_0 051212_0 051312_1 051412_0 051412_1 051512_1 051612_0 051612_2 051712_0 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051912_0 052012_0 052112_0 052212_0 052212_1 052212_3 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052312_3 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_0 052712_2 052712_3 052712_4 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052812_3 052912_0 052912_1 052912_3 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053012_3 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060112_4 060112_5 060212_0 060312_0 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060812_0 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_4 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061512_0 061512_1 061612_1 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_3 061712_4 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 061912_5 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062012_5 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062212_3 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_1 062412_3 062412_4 062412_5 062412_6 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062512_3 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_3 062812_0 062812_1 062912_1 062912_2 063012_1 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070312_0 070312_2 070312_3 070312_4 070412_0 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070512_4 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_4 070712_0 070912_0 071012_0 071012_1 071012_4 071212_0 071212_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071512_0 071512_1 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071612_4 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_1 071912_2 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_1 072112_2 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072212_4 072212_5 072312_0 072412_1 072512_0 072512_1 072512_4 072512_5 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 073012_2 073012_4 073012_5 073112_2 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080212_3 080312_0 080312_1 080412_1 080412_2 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_1 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081312_0 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_2 081512_3 081512_4 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081612_5 081612_6 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_3 081812_4 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 081912_3 081912_4 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082112_3 082112_4 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082312_0 082312_2 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082412_4 082512_2 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_2 082712_4 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083112_1 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090112_4 090112_5 090112_6 090112_7 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090212_3 090212_4 090212_5 090312_0 090312_2 090412_0 090412_1 090412_2 090412_4 090412_6 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090612_3 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090812_3 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 090912_3 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091112_0 091112_1 091212_0 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_0 091812_0 091812_1 091812_2 091812_3 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092612_1 093012_0 100112_0 100212_0 100312_0 100412_1 100412_3 100612_0 100712_0 100812_0 100812_1 100912_0 101012_1 101112_0 101212_0 101312_0 101412_0 101412_1 101612_0 102412_0 102412_1 102512_0 110112_0 110812_0 111612_1 112912_0 120212_0 120312_0 120712_0 120812_0 122812_0

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.