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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 010612_1 010812_0 010912_0 011012_0 011712_0 020412_0 020412_1 022412_0 022612_0 030112_0 030212_0 030812_0 032012_0 032912_1 040712_0 041312_1 041412_0 042112_0 042212_2 042312_2 042412_0 042412_1 042512_0 043012_0 050112_0 050412_2 050612_0 050712_0 050812_0 050912_0 051012_0 051112_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051312_1 051312_2 051412_0 051412_1 051412_3 051512_0 051612_0 051612_1 051612_2 051712_3 051812_4 052112_0 052212_0 052212_1 052312_0 052412_0 052412_1 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052712_0 052812_0 052812_1 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 060112_1 060112_3 060212_0 060212_1 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060512_0 060512_2 060512_3 060612_0 060612_2 060712_1 060712_2 060712_3 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_0 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061412_3 061412_4 061512_1 061512_2 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061912_0 061912_1 062012_0 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_1 062412_3 062512_2 062612_2 062612_4 062612_5 062612_6 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062912_1 063012_0 063012_1 070112_0 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_4 070312_0 070312_1 070312_3 070412_0 070412_1 070412_4 070512_0 070512_2 070612_0 070612_2 070612_5 070612_7 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070712_5 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070812_4 070912_0 070912_2 070912_3 070912_4 070912_6 070912_8 071012_0 071012_1 071012_4 071012_5 071112_0 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071412_0 071512_1 071512_4 071612_0 071612_3 071612_5 071612_6 071712_3 071712_4 071812_1 071912_0 072012_4 072012_5 072112_1 072212_1 072312_0 072312_2 072312_4 072312_5 072412_0 072412_2 072412_4 072412_5 072412_6 072412_7 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_4 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_4 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080312_0 080312_2 080312_3 080412_0 080412_2 080512_0 080512_1 080512_4 080512_5 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080612_4 080612_6 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080712_3 080712_5 080812_0 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_3 080912_4 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081012_3 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081512_4 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_4 081912_0 081912_1 081912_7 081912_8 082012_0 082012_1 082012_4 082012_6 082112_0 082112_2 082112_4 082112_5 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082312_1 082312_3 082312_5 082412_0 82412_10 82412_11 082412_3 082412_6 082412_9 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082512_3 082512_4 082512_6 082612_0 082612_1 082612_4 082612_5 082612_6 082712_0 082712_2 082912_1 083012_0 083012_3 083012_4 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090112_1 090312_0 090312_2 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090612_3 090712_0 091012_0 091012_2 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091212_3 091312_0 091312_1 091312_3 091412_0 091412_3 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091612_1 091612_2 091612_3 091612_5 091712_0 091712_1 091712_2 091712_4 091812_0 091812_1 091812_2 091812_4 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_1 092012_2 092112_0 092112_2 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092412_0 092712_0 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 093012_0 100112_0 100212_0 100212_1 100212_2 100312_1 100412_0 100412_1 100512_1 100612_0 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 101012_1 101012_2 101112_0 101312_0 101412_0 101512_0 101612_0 101612_1 101712_0 102312_2 102412_1 102512_0 110412_0 110512_1 110612_0 110912_0 111212_0 111312_1 111912_0 120512_0 121212_0 121212_1 121312_0 121512_0 122812_0 122812_3 122912_0 122912_1 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.