Skip navigation

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).

   
011012_0 011912_0 011912_1 012012_0 012112_0 012112_1 012212_0 012212_1 012412_0 012512_0 020312_0 020412_0 022312_0 030412_0 031212_0 031312_0 031512_0 031612_0 031612_1 031712_0 031812_0 031812_1 032012_0 032112_0 032212_0 032312_0 032912_0 032912_1 033112_0 040412_0 040812_0 041112_0 041412_0 041512_0 041712_0 042712_0 042712_1 043012_0 043012_1 050112_0 050212_0 050312_0 050312_1 050312_2 050412_0 050412_1 050512_0 050512_1 050612_0 050712_0 050812_0 051112_0 051212_0 051212_1 051612_0 052212_0 052412_0 052712_0 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 053012_0 053012_1 053112_0 053112_1 060312_1 060412_0 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060812_0 060912_0 061012_0 061412_0 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062412_0 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 070112_0 070312_0 070412_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_2 070712_0 070812_0 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071312_0 071412_0 071512_0 071612_0 071612_1 071712_1 071712_2 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072212_1 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072912_0 073012_0 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 080112_1 080312_0 080512_1 080612_0 080712_0 080812_0 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081212_0 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_0 081912_0 082012_0 082212_0 082212_2 082312_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082612_0 082612_1 082712_0 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090112_1 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090412_0 090412_1 090412_2 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090712_0 090812_0 091212_0 091412_0 091412_1 091712_0 091812_0 091912_0 092612_0 092612_1 092612_2 092712_0 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 093012_0 093012_1 100112_0 100212_0 101212_1 102312_0 102912_0 103012_0 103112_0 112112_0 113012_0 120112_0 120112_1 120212_0 120312_2 120512_0 120612_0 121212_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.