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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 IVMRMSPRISMCONUS404CoCoRaHS      Current maps  Interactive maps of past events
Select average recurrence interval: 10-year100-year1000-year
Select duration: 72-hour48-hour24-hour6-hour
Select year: 2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026

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).

   
010112_0 010812_0 012512_0 012712_0 012812_0 020812_0 021212_0 022512_1 022812_0 031512_0 032312_0 032612_0 032712_0 032912_0 040412_1 040812_1 041512_0 041612_0 041712_0 041812_0 041812_1 041912_0 042612_0 042612_1 042712_0 042712_1 042812_0 042912_0 042912_1 042912_2 043012_0 050112_0 050112_1 050212_0 050212_1 050312_0 050312_1 050412_0 050612_0 050812_0 050912_0 050912_1 050912_2 051012_0 051112_0 051412_0 051512_0 051612_1 051812_0 051912_0 052112_0 052212_0 052212_1 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052312_3 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052612_0 052612_1 052612_2 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 060112_0 060112_1 060212_0 060212_1 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060612_1 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061212_1 061412_0 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061612_3 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_3 061812_4 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062112_0 062212_0 062412_0 062412_2 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062912_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070212_1 070312_0 070312_1 070312_3 070312_4 070312_5 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070912_0 070912_1 071012_0 071012_1 071212_0 071312_0 071412_0 071612_0 071612_1 072112_0 072212_0 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072612_2 072612_3 072612_4 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072812_4 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 080112_0 080312_0 080412_0 080412_1 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080712_3 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_1 081612_0 081612_2 081612_3 081712_0 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081912_0 082012_0 082012_1 082112_0 082412_0 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 083112_0 083112_1 090212_0 090312_0 090412_0 090512_0 090612_0 090712_0 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091112_0 091112_1 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091212_3 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_0 091712_1 091712_2 091712_3 091812_0 091812_1 091812_2 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092012_0 092012_2 092012_3 092112_0 092112_1 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092212_3 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092612_0 092712_0 092812_0 092912_0 100412_0 100412_1 100512_0 100512_1 100712_0 100912_0 100912_1 101412_0 101612_0 102212_0 103012_0 111112_0 111212_0 111312_0 111512_0 111912_0 112012_0 112812_0 120812_0 120812_1 120812_2 120812_3 120912_0 121312_0 121312_1 121512_0 121512_1 121612_0 121812_0 122412_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.