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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).

   
020512_0 021212_0 021212_1 021312_1 021312_3 021712_0 021712_1 022012_0 022112_0 022312_0 022512_0 031712_0 032312_0 032912_0 033012_0 040912_0 041112_0 041512_0 041512_1 041612_1 041612_2 042512_0 050412_0 051312_0 051312_1 051412_1 051512_0 051512_1 051612_0 051712_1 051812_0 051812_1 051812_3 051912_1 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052112_0 052212_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_0 052912_2 053012_2 053012_4 053112_0 053112_1 053112_3 053112_4 060112_0 060112_1 060212_0 060212_1 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060712_0 060812_0 060912_0 060912_2 061012_0 061012_1 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061512_1 061612_1 061612_2 061712_1 061712_3 061812_0 061812_3 061812_4 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 061912_5 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062012_5 062112_0 062112_1 062112_3 062112_4 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_1 062312_2 062512_0 062512_3 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_3 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 063012_1 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_2 070312_1 070412_0 070512_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_4 070712_0 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071312_0 071312_1 071412_0 071412_1 071512_1 071512_3 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071712_1 071712_5 071812_2 071812_3 071912_1 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_3 072212_3 072312_1 072312_2 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_2 072812_0 072812_1 072912_1 073012_0 073112_0 073112_1 080112_1 080112_4 080112_5 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080312_1 080412_0 080412_1 080712_0 080712_1 080812_1 080812_3 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081112_1 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081412_0 081412_2 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_2 081712_0 081712_1 081712_3 081712_6 081812_2 081812_4 081912_1 081912_2 082012_2 082012_4 082112_0 082112_1 082112_3 082112_4 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082212_3 082312_2 082412_1 082712_1 082812_0 082912_0 083012_0 090112_0 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090612_3 090612_4 090612_5 090712_0 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 090912_3 091012_0 091012_3 091112_0 091112_1 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091312_0 091312_1 091512_2 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_0 091712_1 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_2 092112_2 092112_3 092112_4 092212_0 092212_1 092212_3 092312_0 092412_0 092512_1 092612_0 092712_0 092712_1 092812_1 092812_2 092812_3 093012_0 100112_0 100312_0 100412_0 100412_1 100512_0 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 100812_1 100812_2 100812_3 100812_5 100912_0 100912_1 100912_2 101012_0 101012_1 101012_2 101112_0 101112_3 101212_0 101312_0 101612_0 101712_1 101812_0 101812_1 101912_0 102412_0 102512_0 112512_0 120112_0 120312_0 120412_0 120912_0 122812_0 122912_0 123012_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.