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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).

   
012212_0 012212_1 012312_0 013012_0 022112_0 022612_0 031112_0 031412_0 031512_0 033012_0 033112_0 041412_0 041512_0 041612_0 041612_1 041712_1 041712_2 041812_0 042312_0 042412_1 042412_2 042512_0 043012_0 050112_1 050212_0 050312_0 050412_0 050512_0 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051312_2 051512_0 051812_1 051912_1 052012_0 052012_1 052412_0 052412_1 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052512_4 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052812_1 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 053012_1 060112_0 060212_0 060312_0 060312_2 060412_0 060412_1 060512_1 060512_4 060612_0 060612_1 060712_1 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_0 061112_2 061112_3 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061612_0 061612_3 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_3 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 061912_1 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062312_0 062412_2 062512_0 062612_1 062712_1 062812_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070512_2 070512_3 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070712_0 070712_2 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070812_5 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071012_3 071012_4 071112_0 071112_3 071212_0 071212_3 071312_1 071312_3 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071612_0 071712_0 071712_1 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072112_0 072112_2 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072512_0 072512_2 072612_0 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 073012_0 073012_2 073112_0 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080112_3 080112_4 080212_0 080212_1 080212_3 080312_2 080412_1 080412_2 080612_0 080712_0 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_2 081012_3 081112_3 081112_4 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081312_3 081412_2 081512_0 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081712_1 081812_0 081912_0 081912_1 082012_1 082012_3 082112_0 082312_1 082412_3 082412_4 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082912_0 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 090112_1 090212_0 090212_1 090212_3 090312_1 090312_2 090312_3 090312_4 090412_1 090512_1 090712_0 090812_0 090912_0 091012_0 091012_1 091112_1 091212_0 091312_0 091412_0 091512_0 091612_1 091912_0 092012_0 092012_1 092312_0 092412_1 092512_2 092612_0 092712_0 092812_0 092912_1 093012_0 093012_1 093012_2 100112_0 100212_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_1 100712_0 102312_0 102412_0 102412_1 102512_0 102612_0 102612_1 102712_0 110512_0 112112_0 112212_0 112612_0 120112_0 120112_1 120212_0 121412_0 121912_0 122012_0 122112_0 122212_0 122312_0 123012_0 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.