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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).

   
011112_0 020112_0 020312_0 020512_0 021012_0 021012_1 021012_2 021012_3 021512_0 021512_1 030212_1 030212_2 030312_0 030312_1 030412_0 030512_1 040412_0 040512_0 040712_0 040812_0 041412_0 041512_0 042812_0 042912_0 042912_1 042912_2 043012_1 050112_0 050112_1 050112_2 050212_0 050212_1 051212_0 051212_2 051312_1 051312_2 051312_3 051412_1 051412_2 051512_1 051612_0 051612_1 051612_2 051712_1 052212_0 052212_1 052212_2 052412_0 052412_2 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052612_0 052612_1 052612_3 052712_0 052712_1 052812_2 052812_3 052812_4 053012_0 060112_0 060212_0 060212_1 060312_2 060412_1 060712_0 060712_2 060712_3 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_2 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061412_0 061412_1 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062112_0 062112_2 062112_4 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_3 062412_0 062412_1 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 063012_2 063012_3 070112_1 070112_3 070112_4 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070512_1 070512_2 070612_0 070712_3 070812_0 070812_2 070912_0 071012_0 071012_1 071112_3 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071312_4 071412_0 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071612_1 071712_1 071712_2 071812_0 071912_0 072112_0 072212_1 072412_0 072912_1 073012_0 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080212_0 080312_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080612_3 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081112_3 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_2 081712_0 081712_1 081812_1 081912_0 081912_1 082012_0 082012_4 082112_1 082212_1 082212_3 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082312_3 082312_4 082412_0 082412_2 082412_3 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083112_0 083112_2 090112_0 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090312_2 090312_3 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090712_1 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 090912_2 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091112_3 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091812_0 091912_1 091912_2 091912_3 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092812_0 092912_0 092912_1 092912_2 093012_0 093012_1 093012_2 100112_2 100212_2 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100512_0 101012_0 101112_1 101212_0 101312_0 101312_1 101412_0 110512_0 110712_0 112012_0 112112_0 112712_0 112712_1 112812_0 112912_0 120312_0 120512_0 121212_0 121212_1 121312_0 121412_0 122112_0 122212_0 122212_1 122312_1 122412_1 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.