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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).

   
010712_0 010712_1 010712_2 010812_0 012012_0 013012_0 020212_0 020312_0 022412_0 030612_0 030912_0 031012_0 031112_0 031212_0 040112_0 040212_0 041012_0 041712_0 041812_0 041912_0 042512_0 042512_1 042712_0 042712_1 042712_2 042912_0 043012_0 050112_0 050212_0 050212_1 050812_0 050912_0 051012_0 051012_1 051112_0 051112_1 051212_0 051612_0 051712_0 051812_0 051912_0 052312_1 052312_2 052412_0 052412_1 052412_3 052512_0 052612_1 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060212_3 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060712_0 060712_1 061112_0 061112_1 061212_0 061312_0 061312_3 061412_0 061412_2 061412_3 061412_4 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061712_2 061712_3 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 062212_1 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_1 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062812_0 062912_1 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070412_1 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070812_0 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071112_0 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071412_0 071412_1 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071812_1 071912_0 071912_1 072112_0 072312_0 072412_0 072612_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072812_3 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 073012_1 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 080112_0 080112_1 080112_3 080212_1 080212_2 080212_3 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080612_0 080712_0 080812_0 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081112_0 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081312_0 081312_2 081312_3 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_4 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_1 081912_0 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082012_4 082012_5 082012_6 082112_0 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_3 082512_1 082512_2 082812_0 082812_2 082912_1 082912_4 082912_6 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083012_3 083012_4 083012_5 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090612_0 090612_2 090712_3 090812_0 090812_2 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091012_1 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091712_1 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092312_0 092312_1 092312_2 092312_3 092412_1 092412_2 092512_0 092512_1 092512_2 092612_0 092612_1 092612_2 092712_0 092712_1 092712_2 092812_0 092912_0 093012_0 093012_1 100112_0 100312_1 100412_0 100412_1 100412_2 100512_1 100512_2 100612_0 100712_1 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101512_0 101612_0 101712_0 101712_1 101812_0 101812_1 102112_0 102112_1 102212_0 110512_0 110612_0 113012_0 120112_0 120612_0 121112_0 121512_0 121612_2 121712_0 121712_1 121712_2 122312_0 122312_1 122412_0 122512_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.