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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: 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).

   
010512_0 010512_1 010612_0 010912_0 010912_1 010912_2 011012_0 011012_1 011112_0 011112_1 011112_2 011612_0 012212_0 012312_0 020612_1 020812_0 020812_1 021012_0 021012_1 021812_0 022112_0 022112_1 022312_0 022812_0 022812_1 022812_2 030112_0 030912_0 032912_0 033012_0 033112_1 040112_0 040312_0 040412_0 040812_0 041112_0 041312_0 041312_1 041512_1 041612_0 041712_0 042412_0 042512_0 042512_1 042912_0 043012_0 043012_1 050412_0 050912_0 051112_0 051212_0 051612_0 051712_0 051812_0 051912_0 051912_1 051912_2 052012_0 052012_1 052112_0 052212_0 052212_1 052512_0 060112_0 060212_0 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060712_3 060712_4 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 061212_0 061312_1 061312_2 061312_3 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061712_0 061812_0 061912_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062112_0 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062412_1 062612_0 062912_0 062912_1 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070712_0 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071612_1 071712_0 071812_0 071812_1 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_0 072212_1 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_4 072812_5 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 073012_0 073012_2 073112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080212_1 080312_0 080412_0 080512_0 080612_0 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080712_3 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 081012_0 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081312_4 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081812_0 081912_0 081912_1 082112_0 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082212_3 082412_0 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083112_0 090112_0 090112_1 090212_0 090912_0 091012_0 091112_0 091212_0 091512_0 091612_0 092012_0 092112_0 092112_1 092312_0 092412_0 092412_1 092412_2 092612_0 092612_2 092612_3 092712_0 092712_1 092812_0 092812_1 092812_2 093012_0 100112_0 100112_1 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100412_1 100412_2 100512_0 100512_1 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 100812_0 100812_1 100912_0 101112_1 101512_0 102212_0 102412_0 102912_0 103012_0 103012_1 110612_0 110712_0 111612_0 111712_0 111712_1 111712_2 122312_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.