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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).

   
010212_0 010512_1 010712_1 010912_0 020412_0 021812_0 030112_1 030712_0 031212_0 031912_0 032212_0 040712_0 041312_1 041812_0 042112_0 042212_1 042312_0 042412_0 042512_0 042512_1 042612_0 042912_0 043012_0 050112_0 050212_0 050212_1 050412_0 050512_0 050512_1 050712_0 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051112_0 051212_0 051212_1 051312_0 051312_1 051312_2 051412_0 051412_1 051512_0 051512_1 051612_0 051812_0 051812_1 052012_0 052212_0 052212_1 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052412_3 052612_0 052812_0 052812_2 052912_0 053012_1 053012_2 053012_3 053012_5 053112_0 053112_2 053112_3 060112_0 060112_1 060212_0 060312_0 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060512_3 060512_4 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_1 060712_2 060712_3 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 061012_1 061012_3 061312_0 061312_1 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_3 061712_4 061712_5 061712_6 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 061912_2 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062412_2 062412_4 062412_5 062512_1 062512_2 062612_2 062612_3 062612_4 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062912_0 062912_1 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070212_3 070212_4 070212_5 070212_7 070212_9 070312_0 070312_1 070312_3 070412_0 070412_2 070412_4 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070612_4 070612_5 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070812_6 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 071012_0 071112_0 071112_2 071212_0 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_1 071512_0 071512_1 071512_4 071512_5 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071812_1 071912_0 071912_2 071912_3 072012_4 072112_1 072212_1 072212_2 072312_3 072312_4 072412_2 072412_3 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072512_4 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080112_3 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080312_4 080312_6 080312_8 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080512_2 080512_5 080512_6 080612_1 080612_2 080612_4 080612_5 080612_6 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081512_4 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081812_5 081812_6 081912_0 081912_1 081912_3 081912_4 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_4 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082112_4 082112_5 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082212_4 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082312_4 082312_5 082312_7 082412_0 082412_4 082412_5 082412_6 082412_7 082512_0 082512_1 082512_3 082512_4 082512_5 082612_2 082612_3 082712_2 082712_3 082712_4 082712_6 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083012_3 083112_0 083112_2 090112_0 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 091012_1 091112_1 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091212_3 091312_0 091412_0 091412_1 091412_4 091512_0 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_0 091712_2 091712_3 091812_0 091812_2 091912_0 091912_1 092012_1 092012_2 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092512_0 092612_0 092712_1 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 100112_0 100112_1 100312_2 100712_0 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 101312_0 101312_1 101412_0 101512_0 101612_0 101612_1 102412_0 110412_0 110512_0 110912_0 111212_0 111912_0 120412_0 120412_1 121112_0 121112_1 121212_0 121512_0 122812_0 122812_1 122812_2 123112_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.