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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).

   
010912_0 011012_0 011012_2 021612_0 021712_0 022112_0 022312_0 030112_0 030312_0 030312_1 030412_0 031512_0 031512_2 031812_0 032212_0 032312_0 032312_1 032412_1 032412_2 032512_0 032812_0 033012_0 040412_0 040412_1 040712_1 040812_1 041112_0 041512_0 041512_1 042212_0 042412_0 050112_0 050112_1 050212_0 050212_1 050312_0 050412_1 050412_2 050912_0 051112_0 051112_1 051212_1 051312_0 051312_1 051412_1 051412_2 051412_3 051412_5 051512_1 051512_2 051512_3 051512_5 051512_6 051612_0 051612_1 051612_2 051712_1 051712_2 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051812_3 051812_4 051812_8 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052012_1 052212_0 052312_0 052312_1 052312_3 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052612_0 052712_2 052712_3 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 052912_2 053012_0 053012_1 053012_4 053012_5 053112_0 053112_1 053112_3 053112_4 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060112_4 060212_3 060212_4 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060512_0 060712_0 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061012_5 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061112_4 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_5 061812_0 061812_1 061812_3 061812_4 061812_5 061812_6 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 061912_5 061912_6 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062112_0 062112_2 062112_3 062112_5 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062312_4 062312_5 062312_6 062412_0 062412_1 062412_3 062412_4 062412_7 062512_0 062512_1 062512_3 062512_4 062512_5 062512_7 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 063012_2 063012_3 063012_4 070112_0 070112_2 070112_3 070312_0 070312_2 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070612_5 070612_6 070712_1 070712_2 070912_1 071012_0 071012_1 071012_3 071012_5 071112_0 071112_4 071212_0 071212_1 071212_3 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071512_0 071512_1 071512_3 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071612_4 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071712_3 071812_0 071812_2 071812_3 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 072012_0 072012_1 072012_3 072012_4 072112_1 072112_2 072212_2 072212_4 072212_5 072212_6 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072312_5 072412_0 072412_1 072412_3 072512_0 072512_1 072512_3 072512_4 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072712_2 072712_3 072712_6 072812_0 072812_3 072912_0 072912_2 072912_3 072912_4 073012_1 073012_3 073112_0 073112_2 080112_0 080112_3 080212_0 080212_1 080212_5 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_3 080512_2 080512_3 080612_1 080612_2 080712_1 080712_2 080812_1 080812_2 080912_1 080912_2 080912_3 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081012_3 081112_0 081112_2 081212_0 081312_0 081312_2 081412_0 081412_2 081512_2 081512_3 081512_4 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081612_5 081612_6 081612_7 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081712_4 081812_0 081812_5 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_2 082012_4 082012_5 082112_1 082112_4 082112_5 082112_6 082212_0 082212_2 082212_3 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082412_0 082412_1 082412_3 082412_4 082512_0 082512_2 082512_3 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082612_3 082712_0 082712_1 082712_4 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_1 083112_0 090112_1 090112_3 090112_4 090112_6 090212_3 090212_4 090212_5 090212_7 090212_8 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090312_3 090312_4 090412_0 090412_1 090412_3 090412_5 090412_7 090512_0 090512_3 090512_5 090512_6 090612_0 090612_2 090612_4 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090712_3 090812_0 090812_2 090812_4 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 090912_3 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091112_2 091112_4 091212_0 091212_1 091512_1 091512_2 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_1 091812_0 091812_1 091912_2 092012_0 092012_1 092112_1 092112_2 092212_0 092312_0 092312_1 092312_2 092412_0 092512_1 092612_1 092712_0 100212_0 100312_0 100312_1 100412_5 100412_6 100512_1 100612_0 100712_0 100712_1 100812_2 100912_0 100912_1 101012_1 101012_2 101012_3 101112_0 101112_2 101212_0 101312_0 101312_1 101412_0 101412_1 101512_0 101512_1 101612_0 101712_0 101712_1 101912_0 102412_0 102512_0 102512_1 111712_1 112812_0 112812_1 113012_0 120212_2 120312_0 120712_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.