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).

   
010212_0 010312_0 010512_0 010512_1 010612_0 010612_1 010912_0 011012_0 011012_1 011012_2 011112_0 011112_2 011212_0 011212_1 011312_0 011612_0 012112_0 012112_1 012312_0 020612_0 020712_0 021012_0 021112_0 021112_1 022012_0 022112_1 022212_0 022812_0 030212_0 031012_0 031012_1 033012_0 040112_0 040312_0 040512_0 041212_0 041812_0 042212_0 042412_0 042512_0 042612_0 042612_1 043012_0 043012_1 050112_0 050112_1 050412_0 050512_0 051012_0 051112_0 051712_1 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052012_2 052112_0 052112_1 052212_0 052312_0 052412_0 052412_1 052612_0 060312_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_1 060812_3 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061412_1 061412_3 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061612_1 061812_0 061912_2 062012_1 062012_2 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062412_3 062412_4 062412_5 062912_0 063012_0 063012_1 070112_1 070212_0 070212_2 070412_0 070512_0 070612_0 070612_2 070612_3 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 072012_0 072012_1 072112_1 072212_0 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_2 072612_3 072612_4 072712_0 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072912_0 072912_1 072912_3 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 080112_0 080212_0 080212_1 080412_0 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080612_1 080712_0 080712_3 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080812_3 080912_0 080912_1 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081312_4 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081612_1 081612_2 081712_0 081812_0 081912_0 082012_0 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082412_0 082412_1 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082612_4 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090212_0 091012_0 091112_0 091212_0 091312_0 091612_0 092012_0 092112_1 092212_0 092412_1 092412_2 092512_0 092512_1 092612_1 092612_2 092612_3 092712_0 092712_1 092712_2 092712_3 092812_0 092812_2 092912_0 092912_1 100112_1 100212_0 100312_0 100312_1 100312_2 100412_0 100412_1 100512_0 100612_0 100712_1 100812_0 100912_0 100912_1 101012_0 101012_1 101012_2 101212_0 101512_0 101612_0 102312_0 102412_0 102512_0 102612_0 102712_0 102812_0 103012_0 103112_0 103112_1 111712_0 111812_0 111812_1 120512_0 122312_0 123012_0 123012_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.