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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).

   
011312_0 012612_0 012812_0 012912_0 012912_1 020812_0 021412_0 021512_0 022312_0 030112_0 031312_0 031412_0 031412_1 031512_2 031512_3 031712_0 032512_0 032512_1 032612_0 032812_0 032912_0 040112_0 042512_0 042512_1 042812_0 042912_0 042912_1 042912_2 050112_0 050412_0 050512_0 051112_0 051612_0 051612_1 051712_0 051712_1 051712_2 051812_0 051812_1 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052112_1 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_1 052512_3 052612_0 053112_1 060112_1 060212_0 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061112_4 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061212_3 061512_0 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062112_0 062112_1 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070312_0 070412_0 070512_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 071012_0 071012_3 071012_4 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071312_1 071312_2 071512_2 071612_0 071612_1 071712_1 071712_2 071712_4 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071912_0 071912_3 072012_0 072112_0 072112_1 072412_0 072412_1 072512_0 072512_1 072512_3 072512_4 072612_0 072612_2 072612_3 072612_4 072712_2 072812_0 073012_0 073112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_1 080312_0 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081312_4 081312_5 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_4 081512_0 081612_0 081712_1 081812_0 081812_1 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 081912_3 082012_0 082012_1 082112_1 082112_2 082112_3 082112_4 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082312_2 082312_3 082412_0 082412_2 082512_0 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082812_0 082912_0 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_2 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090412_0 090412_1 090412_2 090512_1 091012_0 091112_0 091412_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092212_0 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092612_0 093012_1 100112_0 100112_1 100112_2 100112_3 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100312_1 100512_0 100512_1 100512_2 100612_0 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 100912_1 100912_2 101012_0 101012_1 101112_0 101412_0 101412_1 101512_0 102512_0 102512_1 102612_0 102712_0 103012_0 103112_0 111212_0 121012_0 121112_0 121412_0 121812_0 122412_0 122512_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.