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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: 1981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026

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).

   
012112_0 012212_0 012212_1 012312_0 012912_0 022612_0 031312_0 031412_0 031512_0 033012_0 041312_0 041512_0 041612_0 041612_1 041612_2 041712_0 041812_0 042312_0 042312_1 043012_0 050112_0 050112_1 050212_0 050312_0 050412_0 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051312_1 051412_0 051512_0 051512_1 051612_0 051712_0 051812_0 051812_2 051912_0 051912_1 051912_2 052012_0 052212_0 052212_1 052312_0 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052812_0 052812_1 053012_0 060112_0 060312_0 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060712_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061512_0 061612_0 061612_1 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 062012_0 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062112_4 062212_0 062212_1 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062612_1 062712_0 062812_0 062812_1 063012_0 063012_1 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070312_0 070312_2 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_1 071112_3 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071612_0 071712_0 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 072012_0 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072212_4 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072712_0 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 073012_1 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_1 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080612_0 080612_1 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_1 081012_2 081112_1 081112_2 081212_1 081312_1 081412_0 081612_0 081712_0 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_2 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 081912_3 082012_0 082112_0 082112_1 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082812_1 083012_0 083112_0 090112_0 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090212_3 090212_4 090312_0 090412_0 090512_0 090712_0 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091112_0 091212_0 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091912_0 092012_0 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092412_1 092412_2 092512_0 092712_0 092812_0 092912_0 092912_1 093012_0 100112_0 100512_0 100612_0 102212_0 102312_0 102512_0 102512_1 102812_0 110412_0 120112_0 121312_0 121412_0 121912_0 122012_0 122012_1 122012_3 122112_0 122112_1 122112_2 122212_0 123012_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.