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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).

   
011112_0 020612_0 020612_1 020712_0 020712_1 020712_2 021112_0 022312_0 030512_0 031312_0 031412_0 031512_0 031612_0 032012_0 032012_1 041112_0 041312_0 042012_0 043012_0 043012_1 050412_0 051312_0 051512_0 051612_0 051612_1 051712_0 051812_0 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052012_1 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052112_3 052112_4 052212_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052512_0 052912_0 053012_0 053112_0 060212_0 060212_1 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060712_0 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 061012_0 061012_1 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061812_1 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062412_0 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 062912_4 062912_5 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_4 063012_5 063012_6 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070512_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071312_0 071412_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_3 071612_0 071612_1 071712_1 071812_0 071912_0 072012_0 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072212_0 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072712_4 072812_1 072812_3 072912_0 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 073112_1 080112_1 080212_0 080312_1 080412_0 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 082212_0 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082612_0 082712_0 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082812_3 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 090112_0 090112_1 090212_0 090312_0 090412_0 090412_1 090612_0 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091012_1 091012_3 091012_4 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091412_1 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091812_0 092012_0 092212_0 092412_0 092812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 102012_0 102112_0 102112_1 102312_0 102412_0 102612_0 102912_0 102912_1 110812_0 110812_1 110912_0 111212_0 111212_1 111312_0 111412_0 121712_0 122512_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.