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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).

   
010112_0 010312_0 010612_1 010712_1 010812_0 011712_0 020412_0 020512_1 020612_2 022412_0 022512_0 022612_0 030212_0 030312_0 030912_0 031212_0 032012_0 040712_0 041312_1 041412_0 041512_1 041712_0 042112_0 042212_2 042312_3 042412_2 042512_0 043012_0 050112_0 050212_0 050412_1 050512_0 050512_1 050612_0 050812_0 050812_1 050812_2 050912_1 051012_0 051112_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_1 051312_2 051312_3 051412_0 051412_1 051412_2 051412_3 051612_0 051712_1 051712_2 051812_2 052112_0 052212_0 052412_0 052412_1 052412_3 052512_0 052512_1 052612_0 052612_2 052712_0 052812_0 052812_1 052912_1 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060212_1 060312_0 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060412_3 060512_0 060512_1 060612_2 060712_1 060712_4 060712_5 060812_1 060812_2 060812_4 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 060912_4 060912_5 061012_2 061012_4 061112_1 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061412_2 061412_3 061412_4 061512_0 061512_1 061512_3 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061912_0 062012_0 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062312_0 062412_0 062412_1 062412_3 062512_2 062512_4 062612_2 062612_5 062612_7 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_5 062812_0 062812_2 062912_0 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070212_4 070312_1 070312_2 070312_3 070312_5 070412_0 070412_1 070412_4 070512_0 070512_4 070612_0 070612_1 070612_3 070612_4 070712_2 070712_3 070712_5 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071012_6 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071112_4 071112_5 071212_1 071312_1 071312_2 071312_4 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_5 071612_0 071612_4 071612_6 071612_7 071712_3 071812_3 071912_4 072012_0 072012_4 072012_5 072112_0 072112_3 072312_0 072312_2 072312_6 072412_0 072412_1 072412_3 072412_4 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072612_0 072612_2 072612_3 072612_4 072712_0 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_2 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080312_1 080312_3 080312_4 080312_5 080412_0 080412_1 080412_3 080412_4 080512_0 080512_2 080512_4 080512_5 080612_0 080612_2 080612_3 080612_5 080612_6 080612_8 080712_0 080712_2 080712_3 080712_4 080712_6 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080812_5 080812_6 080912_0 080912_2 080912_3 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081412_0 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081812_5 081912_1 081912_5 082012_0 082012_1 82012_10 082012_2 082012_5 082012_9 082112_0 082112_4 082112_8 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082212_3 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082412_5 082512_1 082512_3 082512_5 082512_6 082512_7 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082612_3 082612_4 082612_6 082712_1 082712_2 082712_3 082712_4 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_5 082912_6 083012_2 083012_3 083112_1 083112_2 083112_3 090112_0 090312_0 090512_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_2 090812_0 091012_0 091012_2 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091212_3 091312_0 091312_2 091312_4 091412_0 091412_5 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091512_3 091612_1 091612_2 091712_1 091712_3 091712_5 091812_0 091812_3 091812_5 091812_6 091912_1 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092212_0 092312_0 092412_0 092712_0 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 093012_0 100212_1 100212_2 100312_2 100312_3 100312_4 100412_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_1 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 101012_1 101112_0 101212_0 101312_0 101512_1 101612_0 101612_1 101712_0 102412_2 102512_2 110612_0 110612_1 110712_0 110912_0 111012_0 111312_0 111412_1 111912_0 112012_0 120412_1 120512_0 121212_0 121212_1 121312_0 121312_1 121512_0 122012_0 122812_1 122912_0 122912_1 122912_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.