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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).

   
010712_0 010812_2 010912_1 012512_0 012612_0 022812_0 030112_0 030412_0 031512_0 031612_0 032412_0 032412_1 032712_0 032812_0 032912_0 040212_0 040312_0 041612_0 041612_1 041712_0 041812_2 041912_0 042712_0 042712_1 042812_0 042812_1 042912_0 043012_0 050212_0 050212_1 050312_1 050312_2 050412_0 050812_0 050912_1 051012_1 051112_0 051212_0 051612_0 052012_0 052112_0 052212_0 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052612_0 052612_2 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 052912_1 060212_0 060312_0 060312_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 061012_0 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061412_0 061512_1 061612_1 061612_2 061612_3 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_4 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 061912_5 061912_7 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062212_0 062412_0 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_2 062812_3 062912_0 070112_0 070212_0 070312_0 070312_3 070412_0 070412_1 070412_3 070512_1 070612_1 070612_2 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070812_0 070812_1 071012_0 071212_0 071312_0 071412_0 071412_1 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 072212_0 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072812_2 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 072912_4 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073012_4 073112_0 080112_0 080512_0 080712_1 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081212_0 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_1 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081912_0 082012_0 082112_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082512_0 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 090312_0 090412_0 090612_0 090612_1 090712_0 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 090912_3 091012_0 091012_1 091112_1 091212_0 091212_2 091212_3 091312_0 091312_1 091312_3 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_1 091712_0 091712_1 091812_0 091812_1 091812_2 091912_0 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_2 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092212_3 092312_1 092412_0 092412_1 092412_2 092712_0 092912_1 093012_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_1 100912_0 101012_0 101412_0 101512_0 101512_1 102212_0 103012_0 103112_0 111112_0 111212_0 111312_0 111912_0 112112_0 120812_0 120812_1 120912_1 120912_2 120912_3 121612_0 121612_1 121812_0 121912_0 122412_0 122512_0 122612_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.