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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: 198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025

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).

   
010412_0 010512_0 020612_0 021812_0 022412_0 030512_0 030512_1 030612_0 032112_1 032712_0 040212_1 040312_1 040312_2 040412_1 040512_0 040512_1 040612_0 042412_1 042412_2 042512_0 042512_1 050112_0 050212_0 050912_0 051012_0 051212_1 051212_2 051212_3 051312_0 051312_1 051312_3 051412_0 051412_1 051412_2 051612_0 051712_0 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052212_0 052212_1 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052812_0 052812_1 053012_1 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 060112_1 060112_2 060412_0 060712_0 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_2 061112_3 061112_4 061112_5 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_2 061712_3 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 062012_1 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062612_0 062712_0 062712_1 062812_1 062912_0 062912_1 063012_0 070112_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070312_0 070312_2 070512_0 070612_1 070812_0 070812_2 071012_0 071112_0 071312_0 071412_0 071412_1 071512_0 071612_0 071712_1 071812_1 071812_2 072012_0 072212_1 072212_2 072312_0 072412_0 072412_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 080112_0 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_3 080512_0 080612_0 080712_1 081212_0 081312_0 081412_0 081412_1 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081812_0 081912_0 081912_1 082012_0 082112_0 082212_0 082412_0 082412_2 082412_3 082512_1 082612_0 082612_1 082612_3 082612_4 082712_0 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 090512_0 090512_2 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_1 090812_0 090812_2 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091512_0 091612_1 091712_0 091812_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092612_0 092612_1 092612_2 092712_0 092712_1 092812_0 092812_1 092812_2 092912_0 093012_0 100112_0 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 100912_0 100912_1 101012_0 101112_0 101412_0 101912_1 102012_0 102112_0 102212_0 102312_1 102712_0 102812_1 102912_1 102912_2 102912_3 103012_1 110112_0 110212_1 110812_0 110912_1 111612_0 111712_0 112112_1 112212_0 112312_0 112412_1 120712_0 120912_0 120912_1 121012_0 121012_1 122812_0 122912_0 123012_0 123012_1 123112_0 123112_1

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.