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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).

   
010812_1 010812_2 011212_0 011212_3 011312_0 012012_0 012712_1 020612_1 020712_0 020712_2 021212_0 030512_0 031312_0 031412_0 031412_1 031512_0 031512_1 031612_0 031712_0 031912_0 032012_1 032012_2 032012_3 032912_1 033012_2 040112_1 040912_0 041012_0 041112_0 041612_0 042012_0 042112_0 042612_0 043012_0 043012_1 051312_0 051512_0 051512_2 051512_3 051612_0 051912_1 052012_1 052012_2 052012_3 052012_5 052112_1 052112_2 052112_4 052212_2 052212_4 052312_2 052312_3 052412_0 052412_2 052412_3 052512_0 052512_1 052512_3 052612_0 052912_1 053012_0 060112_1 060312_1 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060712_0 060812_0 060812_2 060812_3 060812_4 060812_5 060812_6 060912_1 060912_3 060912_6 061012_1 061112_0 061212_0 061312_0 061412_0 061412_1 061512_3 061512_4 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_3 061912_0 061912_1 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062612_2 062612_5 062712_3 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062812_4 062912_1 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_3 063012_4 063012_5 063012_6 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_4 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_4 070512_5 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070712_4 070712_5 070712_6 070712_7 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_2 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_1 071212_2 071312_1 071412_1 071512_0 071512_3 071512_4 071612_1 071712_1 071712_2 071812_3 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072012_1 072012_3 072012_4 072112_0 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_4 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072712_4 072812_0 072812_1 072812_5 072912_1 072912_5 072912_6 072912_7 073012_1 073012_2 073012_4 073112_1 073112_3 073112_4 073112_5 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080312_0 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080512_2 080612_0 080712_0 080712_2 080812_1 080912_0 080912_2 080912_4 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081012_3 081112_1 081212_1 081212_2 081312_0 081312_2 081312_3 081412_0 081412_2 081412_3 081412_4 081412_5 081412_6 081412_7 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081512_4 081512_5 081612_1 081612_3 081712_2 081712_4 082212_1 082212_2 082312_2 082412_0 082412_2 082512_5 082612_0 082612_2 082712_0 082712_2 082712_4 082812_0 082812_5 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 083012_1 090112_2 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090712_1 090812_0 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091112_0 091112_4 091212_0 091312_0 091312_1 091412_0 091412_1 091612_0 091712_0 091812_0 092112_0 092212_0 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092912_0 093012_0 101012_0 101812_0 102012_0 102112_0 102112_1 102212_0 102412_1 102612_0 102712_0 102812_0 102912_0 102912_2 103112_1 110312_1 110812_0 110912_0 110912_1 111012_0 111212_0 111212_1 111312_0 111312_1 111512_3 120612_0 121412_0 121512_0 121512_1 122512_2 122612_2 122612_3

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.