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 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: 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).

   
010312_0 010612_0 010612_1 013112_0 020712_0 020812_0 022312_0 030112_0 030312_0 031612_1 032012_0 040112_1 040312_0 040412_0 041312_0 041312_1 041312_2 041312_3 041412_0 041712_0 041712_1 041712_2 041812_0 041912_0 042012_0 042512_0 042612_0 042712_0 042712_1 050512_0 050512_1 050612_0 050712_0 050712_1 050912_0 051012_0 051012_1 051012_2 051112_0 051112_1 051212_0 051312_0 051312_1 051412_0 051412_1 051512_0 051512_1 051612_0 051612_1 051712_0 051712_1 051712_2 051712_3 051712_4 051812_0 051812_1 051912_0 051912_1 051912_2 052012_0 052212_0 052312_0 052412_0 052412_1 052412_3 052412_4 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 052912_1 052912_3 052912_4 053112_0 053112_1 060212_0 060312_0 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060412_3 060512_1 060512_2 060612_0 060612_1 060812_0 060912_0 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061112_4 061212_0 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_1 061412_2 061412_3 061412_4 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062212_0 062212_1 062312_0 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062612_3 062612_4 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_3 062812_0 062812_1 062912_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070612_4 070612_5 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_4 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071212_3 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071712_0 071812_0 071812_1 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 072012_0 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072312_0 072512_0 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 080112_0 080212_1 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081112_3 081412_0 081512_0 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081712_1 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081812_4 081812_5 081912_0 081912_1 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082412_0 082612_1 082712_0 082712_2 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083112_0 090212_0 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090712_0 090712_1 090912_1 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091112_0 091312_0 091312_1 091612_0 091712_0 091812_0 092212_0 092312_0 092312_1 092312_2 092412_0 092412_1 092612_0 092812_0 092912_0 092912_1 093012_0 093012_1 093012_2 100112_0 100112_1 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100412_1 100412_2 100512_0 100512_1 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 101412_0 101912_0 101912_1 102112_0 102212_0 102212_1 102212_2 102312_0 102312_1 102312_2 102412_0 102512_0 102612_0 102912_0 103012_0 103112_0 110112_1 110212_0 110312_0 110412_1 110512_0 110912_0 110912_1 111012_0 111112_0 111812_0 111912_0 112012_0 112712_0 112812_0 120612_0 120812_0 121312_0 122312_0 122412_0 122512_0 122612_0 122712_0 122812_0 123112_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.