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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 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: 20182019202020212022202320242025

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).

   
011212_0 011812_1 011912_0 012412_1 020412_0 020712_0 021412_0 021412_1 021512_0 021512_1 022212_0 022412_0 022712_0 030612_0 031012_0 032112_0 032212_1 040312_0 040812_0 041812_0 042212_1 042412_0 042712_2 050112_0 050212_0 050612_0 050712_0 050712_1 050812_0 050812_1 050812_2 051012_0 051012_2 051112_0 051212_0 051412_0 051712_0 052012_3 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052112_3 052212_1 052412_0 052512_0 052512_3 052612_0 052612_1 052612_2 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 053012_0 060212_0 060212_2 060212_3 060312_0 060312_2 060312_3 060312_4 060412_0 060412_2 060412_3 060512_0 060512_2 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 060912_1 061112_0 061112_1 061212_0 061312_0 061512_1 061512_3 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061612_3 061612_5 061712_0 061712_2 061812_0 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070212_0 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070312_4 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070512_4 070512_5 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070612_4 070612_5 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070712_4 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071012_1 071212_1 071212_2 071212_3 071212_4 071412_0 071512_0 071512_1 071512_3 071612_0 071612_1 071612_3 071612_4 071612_5 071712_1 071712_2 071812_0 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072112_3 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_4 072312_0 072312_2 072612_0 073012_0 080112_1 080112_3 080112_4 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080212_4 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080312_4 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080612_1 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_1 080812_2 080912_1 080912_2 080912_5 080912_7 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081012_4 081112_2 081112_3 081112_4 081112_5 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081212_4 081212_6 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081512_0 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081912_0 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082312_1 082312_2 082312_3 082312_4 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082512_0 082512_1 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082812_0 082812_1 082912_1 082912_2 083012_1 083112_0 083112_2 090112_0 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090412_0 090512_0 090612_0 090712_1 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 091012_0 091112_0 091112_2 091212_1 091212_2 091212_3 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091512_0 091612_0 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 091912_4 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092112_3 092112_4 092112_5 092212_0 092212_1 092412_0 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 092812_0 092912_0 092912_1 093012_1 100112_0 100112_1 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 101112_0 101112_2 101612_0 101712_0 102012_0 102112_1 102612_0 103012_0 103112_0 110112_3 112012_0 112112_0 112812_0 112812_5 112912_0 121712_0 122712_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.