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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).

   
012012_0 012412_0 020712_0 021412_0 021412_1 021512_0 021512_1 021512_2 022212_0 022212_1 022312_0 022412_0 022512_0 022712_0 030612_0 031412_0 040812_0 040812_1 041812_0 041912_0 042012_0 042312_0 042412_0 042412_1 043012_0 050112_0 050212_0 050412_0 050612_0 050712_0 050812_0 050812_1 050812_2 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051112_0 051712_0 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052112_0 052312_0 052512_0 052512_1 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 060212_0 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060612_0 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061312_0 061512_0 061612_0 061612_1 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061812_0 061812_1 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062212_0 062212_1 062312_0 062312_1 062512_0 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062912_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070512_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 071012_0 071112_0 071212_0 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071712_0 071712_1 071912_0 072012_0 072112_1 072112_2 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072312_0 072712_0 080112_0 080212_0 080212_1 080312_0 080312_1 080712_0 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081612_0 081712_0 081812_0 081912_0 082012_0 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 083012_0 083112_0 090112_0 090212_0 090412_0 090612_0 090912_0 091012_0 091112_0 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091312_0 091312_1 091612_0 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 091912_3 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_1 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092512_1 092512_2 092812_0 092912_0 092912_1 092912_2 093012_0 093012_1 100112_0 100112_1 100212_0 100212_1 100212_2 100312_0 100412_0 100412_1 100612_0 100712_0 101112_0 101112_1 102012_0 102112_0 102112_1 102612_0 103012_0 103112_0 110112_0 110112_1 110512_0 111512_0 111612_0 112112_0 112112_1 112812_0 112912_0 120212_0 122412_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.