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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: 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).

   
010112_0 010112_1 010212_1 010212_2 010312_0 010312_1 010412_0 010412_1 010812_0 011012_0 011012_1 011512_0 011612_0 021112_0 021712_0 022512_0 030312_0 030412_0 030412_1 030812_0 031012_0 031012_1 031112_0 031512_0 031512_1 031512_2 031612_0 031612_1 032212_0 032212_1 032412_0 032412_1 032612_0 032712_0 033112_0 040612_0 040712_0 041112_0 041312_0 041512_0 041612_0 041712_0 042012_0 042012_1 042112_0 042612_1 042812_0 042912_0 050112_0 050312_0 050512_0 050512_1 050712_1 050712_2 050712_4 050712_5 050812_1 050812_2 050812_3 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051012_1 051012_2 051012_3 051112_0 051112_1 051112_2 051112_3 051112_4 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051312_1 051312_2 051312_3 051312_4 051412_0 051412_1 051512_0 051512_1 051512_2 051712_1 051812_0 051812_1 051912_1 051912_2 051912_3 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052112_2 052112_3 052212_0 052312_0 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052412_4 052412_5 052512_0 052512_2 052612_0 052612_2 052612_3 052712_0 052712_2 052812_0 052812_3 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 052912_3 053012_0 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 053112_3 053112_4 060112_0 060112_2 060112_3 060112_4 060212_0 060212_2 060212_4 060212_5 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060312_3 060312_4 060312_5 060312_6 060412_1 060412_3 060512_2 060512_3 060612_3 060612_4 060712_0 060712_2 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_3 061112_0 061112_2 061112_3 061212_2 061212_3 061312_0 061312_2 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061512_4 061612_0 061612_2 061612_3 061612_4 061612_5 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062112_4 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062412_1 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062612_2 062612_3 062612_4 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_5 062712_6 062812_0 062812_4 062912_2 062912_3 062912_4 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_3 070112_0 070112_2 070112_3 070112_4 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070212_5 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070312_3 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070712_4 070712_5 070812_0 070812_2 070812_3 070812_5 070812_6 070812_7 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071112_3 071112_5 071212_1 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071412_2 071412_3 071412_4 071412_5 071412_6 071412_7 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_3 071512_4 071512_5 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071712_1 071812_2 071912_0 071912_1 071912_4 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072112_4 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072312_0 072412_0 072412_2 072512_2 072512_3 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_1 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 073012_0 073012_3 073012_4 073112_2 073112_3 073112_4 073112_5 080112_1 080112_2 080112_3 080212_2 080212_3 080212_4 080312_0 080312_2 080312_4 080312_5 080312_6 080312_7 080412_0 080412_2 080412_3 080412_4 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080512_3 080512_5 080512_7 080612_0 080612_2 080612_5 080712_1 080712_2 080712_4 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080812_3 080812_4 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 080912_3 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081312_0 081312_3 081312_4 081412_0 081412_2 081412_3 081412_4 081412_5 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_3 081712_1 081712_2 081812_2 081912_0 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082212_3 082212_4 082312_0 082312_2 082412_0 082412_2 082512_0 082512_2 082612_0 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082812_3 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 082912_3 082912_4 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 090112_0 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090712_1 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091312_0 091412_2 091512_0 091712_1 091712_2 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_2 092112_0 092112_1 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092212_4 092212_6 092312_0 092312_1 092312_2 092412_0 092412_1 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 092712_0 092712_1 093012_1 100112_0 100112_1 100112_2 100112_3 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100312_1 100312_2 100412_0 100512_0 100512_1 100712_0 100812_0 100812_1 101212_0 101212_1 101212_2 101312_1 102512_1 102512_2 102612_0 102612_1 102812_0 110312_1 111612_0 111712_0 111912_0 112212_0 112412_0 120312_0 120612_1 121112_0 121712_0 121812_0 121812_2 121912_1 122112_0 122312_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.