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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).

   
011112_2 011412_0 012212_0 012312_0 012312_1 012412_0 012412_1 012512_0 012712_0 020412_2 020512_0 020612_0 020712_0 020712_1 020812_0 020812_1 021312_0 021312_1 021612_0 022012_0 022212_0 030312_0 030312_1 030412_0 030412_1 030512_1 030612_2 030712_0 030812_1 031212_0 031412_0 031612_2 031712_0 031712_2 031712_3 031812_0 032112_0 032212_0 032412_0 032612_0 033012_1 040212_0 040312_0 040412_0 040412_1 040612_0 040612_2 040712_0 040812_2 040912_1 041012_1 041112_0 041112_1 041212_0 041312_1 041412_0 041612_1 041712_0 041812_0 041812_1 042112_0 042712_2 042712_3 042712_4 042812_0 042812_1 042812_2 042812_3 042912_0 042912_2 050212_1 050312_0 050412_0 050412_1 050412_2 050412_3 050512_0 050612_1 050612_3 050612_5 050712_3 050812_2 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051012_2 051212_0 051312_1 051512_1 051712_0 051712_2 051812_0 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052212_0 052212_1 052212_2 052312_4 052412_0 052412_1 052512_1 052512_2 052512_6 052712_1 052712_2 052712_4 052812_0 052912_0 052912_3 053012_0 053112_0 060112_0 060112_1 060212_1 060212_2 060312_0 060312_1 060312_3 060312_5 060412_2 060412_5 060412_7 060512_0 060512_4 060612_3 060712_0 060912_1 060912_4 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061412_0 061512_0 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061712_1 061712_2 061812_0 061812_4 061912_0 061912_1 061912_3 061912_5 062012_1 062012_2 062012_4 062012_6 062112_0 062212_0 062212_1 062212_3 062212_6 062212_7 062212_8 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_4 062412_0 062412_2 062412_3 062412_5 062512_3 062512_4 062512_5 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062712_3 062712_7 062812_0 062812_2 062812_6 062912_0 062912_2 062912_4 063012_0 063012_1 070112_0 070112_1 070112_3 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070312_3 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070512_2 070512_3 070512_6 070512_7 070612_1 070612_3 070612_4 070612_6 070712_0 070812_0 070812_1 070812_3 070812_4 070912_0 070912_5 071012_0 071012_1 071012_3 071012_4 071112_2 071112_3 071212_3 071212_4 071312_1 071312_6 071312_7 071412_1 071412_4 071512_5 071612_2 071612_3 071712_4 071712_5 071712_7 071812_0 071812_3 071812_5 071812_6 071812_7 071812_9 071912_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_4 072012_5 072012_6 072112_1 072112_2 072112_3 072112_7 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072212_4 072212_5 072212_7 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_4 072312_8 072312_9 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072412_9 072512_2 072512_5 072512_7 072612_0 072612_1 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_1 072912_1 072912_6 073012_1 73012_11 073012_2 073012_4 073012_6 073012_8 073112_0 073112_2 073112_5 80112_10 080112_6 080112_8 080112_9 080212_2 080212_3 080212_5 080212_6 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_4 080412_1 080412_3 080512_0 080512_5 080512_8 080612_0 080612_2 080612_5 080712_0 080712_5 080712_7 080812_0 080812_8 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 080912_4 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081112_2 081112_3 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081512_1 081512_4 081512_5 081612_0 081612_2 081612_4 081712_1 081812_3 081912_1 081912_2 081912_4 081912_7 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082112_0 082112_1 082112_5 082212_1 082212_2 082212_4 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_3 082512_1 082512_3 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082812_0 082812_4 082912_0 082912_3 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 090112_3 090212_0 090212_2 090312_0 090312_2 090412_0 090512_0 090612_0 090612_4 090712_0 090712_1 090812_0 090812_1 091012_0 091112_0 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091412_0 091412_4 091512_0 091512_3 091612_3 091712_1 091712_2 091712_4 091712_7 091812_0 091812_1 091812_2 091812_3 091812_5 091912_0 091912_4 091912_5 092012_2 092212_0 092212_3 092212_4 092212_6 092212_7 092312_1 092312_6 092412_2 092512_3 092612_0 092712_0 092712_2 092812_0 092912_0 093012_1 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 102012_0 102112_0 110412_0 110512_0 110612_0 110712_0 110712_1 110812_0 110812_2 110912_0 110912_1 110912_3 111012_0 111012_1 111112_0 112112_1 112212_0 112312_0 112312_1 112312_2 112412_2 112712_0 112712_1 120212_1 120312_0 120712_0 121212_0 121712_0 122712_0 122812_0 122912_0 122912_1 122912_2 123012_0 123012_2

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.