Skip navigation

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).

   
011012_0 011112_0 011612_0 012812_0 012812_1 021212_0 021312_0 040912_0 041212_0 041812_0 041812_1 041912_1 042812_0 050212_0 050312_1 050412_0 050612_0 050812_0 051112_0 051212_0 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052012_3 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052212_0 052312_0 052412_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052612_2 052612_3 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 053012_0 053012_1 053012_4 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_4 060212_2 060212_3 060312_0 060412_0 060412_1 060612_0 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060912_1 060912_2 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_3 061612_1 061712_0 061712_1 062012_2 062012_3 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_0 070212_2 070212_3 070212_5 070312_2 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_4 071012_0 071012_2 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071312_1 071312_2 071412_0 071412_3 071412_4 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_4 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071612_4 071712_0 071812_0 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 071912_3 071912_4 071912_5 072012_1 072112_1 072112_2 072212_0 072212_1 072212_3 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072512_0 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072812_3 072912_1 073012_0 073112_0 080112_0 080212_0 080212_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 080912_3 080912_5 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081312_0 081312_2 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_2 081612_1 081712_0 081812_0 081812_2 081912_0 082012_0 082312_0 082612_1 082712_0 082712_2 082712_4 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 090112_0 090212_0 090312_1 090312_2 090412_0 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091312_3 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091612_0 091712_0 092012_3 092012_4 092012_5 092112_0 092112_1 092212_1 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092712_0 093012_0 093012_1 093012_2 100112_0 100112_1 100312_0 100412_0 100512_0 100512_1 100512_2 100512_3 100612_0 100612_1 100612_2 100712_0 100712_1 100712_2 101012_0 101212_0 101212_1 101212_2 101412_0 101412_1 101512_0 101512_1 101512_2 103012_0 103112_0 110112_0 112312_0 112412_0 112412_1 120312_0 120312_1 121612_0 122212_0 122212_1 122312_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.