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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).

   
012112_0 012412_0 012512_0 020212_0 022112_0 030312_0 030412_0 030912_0 030912_1 031012_1 031812_0 031912_2 032012_0 032112_0 032712_0 032812_0 033112_0 033112_1 033112_2 040112_0 040412_0 040812_0 040812_1 040912_1 041412_0 041612_0 041912_0 041912_1 041912_2 042012_1 042112_0 042112_1 042512_0 042612_0 042812_0 042812_1 050312_0 050412_0 050612_0 050712_1 050712_2 050812_0 050912_0 050912_1 051212_0 051312_0 051412_0 051712_0 051812_0 051912_0 052412_0 052512_0 052612_0 052712_0 052812_0 052812_1 052912_1 052912_2 053012_0 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 060112_0 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060412_4 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060512_3 060512_4 060612_0 060612_1 060612_3 060612_4 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_2 061412_3 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061512_3 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061812_1 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062112_0 062212_0 062212_2 062212_3 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062412_3 062412_4 062512_0 062612_0 062712_0 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 063012_0 070112_0 070212_1 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070312_3 070312_4 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070412_5 070412_6 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_4 070512_5 070512_7 070612_0 070612_2 070612_4 070612_5 070612_7 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_4 070812_0 070812_2 070812_3 070812_4 070812_5 070812_6 070912_0 070912_2 070912_5 070912_6 071012_1 071012_2 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071312_0 071312_1 071412_0 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071912_1 071912_2 071912_3 071912_4 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072012_5 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072212_4 072312_0 072312_1 072412_2 072412_3 072512_0 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073112_1 073112_2 080112_0 080212_0 080212_2 080312_0 080312_1 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080512_3 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080612_3 080612_4 080712_0 080812_1 080912_1 080912_2 081012_2 081012_3 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_1 081212_2 081212_4 081312_0 081312_1 081312_3 081412_1 081412_3 081512_1 081612_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081712_4 081812_0 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082212_2 082212_3 082312_1 082312_2 082312_4 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082512_0 082612_0 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082712_4 082812_0 082812_2 082912_1 082912_2 082912_3 082912_4 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083012_3 083012_4 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 083112_4 083112_5 090112_0 090112_2 090212_1 090212_2 090212_3 090312_0 090612_0 090612_1 090712_1 090712_3 090712_4 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091112_1 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_2 091512_0 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_0 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 091912_4 092012_1 092112_0 092212_0 092312_0 092412_1 092412_2 092512_2 092612_0 092612_1 092712_0 092812_0 100112_0 100212_0 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100412_1 100412_2 100412_3 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101012_1 101112_0 101112_1 101112_3 101212_0 101212_1 101412_0 101912_1 102012_0 102012_1 102312_0 102412_0 102512_0 102812_0 102912_0 102912_2 103012_0 110112_0 110512_0 110912_0 111012_0 111012_1 111012_2 111712_0 120412_0 120412_1 120512_0 121512_0 121612_0 121612_1 121712_0 121812_0 121812_1 121812_2 121912_0 122012_0 122412_0 122812_0 122912_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.