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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: 200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025

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).

   
010512_0 010612_0 010612_1 010612_2 010812_1 010812_2 010812_3 011112_0 011112_1 012312_0 012612_0 012812_0 012812_1 020112_0 022212_0 031812_0 031812_1 031912_0 031912_1 033012_0 033112_0 040412_0 040412_1 040712_0 040912_0 041012_0 042112_0 042412_0 042412_1 042412_2 042512_0 042512_1 042612_0 042712_0 043012_0 050312_0 050612_0 050712_0 050812_0 051012_1 051212_0 051412_0 051612_0 052112_0 052212_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052512_0 052612_0 052612_1 052612_2 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060512_3 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060612_3 060712_0 060812_0 060912_1 060912_2 061112_0 061112_1 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061712_0 061812_0 061912_0 061912_1 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062512_0 062612_0 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_3 062812_0 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 070212_0 070312_0 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070712_4 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071112_3 071212_0 071212_2 071312_0 071312_1 071412_0 071512_0 071612_0 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071812_4 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 072112_1 072212_1 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072312_4 072312_5 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072412_4 072412_5 072412_6 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 073012_0 073112_0 073112_1 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080612_3 080612_4 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081012_3 081112_1 081112_2 081112_3 081112_4 081112_6 081212_0 081212_1 081412_0 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081712_0 081712_1 081812_0 081812_1 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082612_0 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083112_1 090112_0 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090612_0 090712_0 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 092112_0 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092712_0 092812_0 092812_1 100512_0 100612_0 100712_0 100712_1 101112_1 101212_0 101312_0 101612_0 102012_0 102212_0 102312_0 102512_0 110712_0 111212_0 111312_0 111412_0 112612_0 112712_0 112912_0 121012_0 121112_0 121612_0 121812_0 122312_0 122612_0 122612_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.