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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).

   
010712_2 011112_0 011112_1 011212_1 012712_1 020612_0 031312_0 031412_0 031512_0 032912_0 040312_1 040612_1 040912_0 041312_2 041612_0 042012_0 042412_0 042512_0 042612_0 050512_0 051212_0 051212_1 051312_0 051512_0 051512_1 051512_2 051612_0 051612_2 051712_0 051812_0 051912_0 051912_1 051912_2 052012_1 052012_2 052012_4 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052212_1 052212_2 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_2 052412_3 052512_0 052512_2 053012_0 053112_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060512_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060812_4 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061212_0 061312_0 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062612_1 062612_2 062612_3 062712_0 062712_1 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_2 062912_3 062912_4 062912_5 063012_0 063012_1 063012_3 063012_4 070112_0 070112_1 070112_3 070212_0 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070512_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071412_2 071512_2 071512_3 071512_4 071512_5 071612_0 071712_1 071712_2 071712_3 071812_0 071812_1 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_1 072112_2 072212_0 072212_1 072312_0 072312_2 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_2 072612_0 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_2 072912_0 072912_2 073012_0 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 080112_2 080312_1 080412_0 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081212_1 081212_2 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081612_5 081712_0 082212_1 082412_0 082412_3 082512_0 082512_1 082512_4 082512_5 082612_0 082612_2 082712_1 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 090112_0 090112_1 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090312_0 090412_0 090612_1 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091012_3 091012_5 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091412_1 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091812_0 091812_1 092212_0 092412_0 092612_0 092812_0 093012_0 100912_0 101012_0 101412_0 102012_0 102112_0 102212_0 102612_0 102712_0 102912_0 102912_2 110812_0 110912_0 111212_0 111212_1 120112_1 120612_0 121412_0 122512_1 122512_2 122712_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.