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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: 200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025

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).

   
012312_0 012812_0 013112_1 020112_0 020212_0 020312_0 021312_0 021412_0 021612_0 022112_0 022212_0 022312_0 030112_0 031612_0 031712_0 031812_0 031912_0 031912_1 032012_0 032112_0 032312_1 032712_0 040512_1 040712_0 040812_0 040812_1 040812_2 040912_0 040912_1 041112_0 041612_0 041612_1 041712_0 042012_0 042412_0 042512_0 042512_1 042612_0 043012_0 043012_1 043012_2 050112_1 050112_2 050112_3 050112_4 050212_0 050412_0 050412_1 050512_0 050512_1 050612_0 050612_1 050612_2 050712_0 050812_0 050912_0 050912_1 050912_2 050912_3 051012_0 051012_1 051112_0 051112_1 051312_0 051512_0 051612_0 051612_1 051712_1 051812_0 051912_0 052012_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052512_0 052612_0 052612_1 052612_3 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060312_1 060312_2 060412_0 060512_1 060612_0 060612_1 060812_0 060812_1 061112_0 061112_1 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061312_2 061412_0 061412_1 061612_0 061612_1 061712_2 061712_3 061712_4 061712_5 061712_6 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_3 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_2 062212_3 062212_4 062312_0 062312_2 062312_3 062312_4 062312_5 062312_6 062412_1 062412_2 062412_3 062512_0 062512_1 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062912_0 062912_1 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070212_1 070312_1 070412_1 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_3 070912_4 071012_0 071012_2 071112_0 071112_1 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071912_0 072012_0 072212_0 072212_2 072312_0 072412_0 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072912_0 073012_0 073112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080212_2 080312_0 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080512_1 080512_3 080512_4 080512_5 080612_1 080712_1 080712_2 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081112_1 081212_2 081312_1 081312_3 081612_0 081612_2 081712_1 081812_1 081812_2 081912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083012_4 083112_1 083112_2 083112_3 083112_4 083112_5 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090412_0 090412_1 090512_2 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_1 090812_0 090812_1 090912_1 091012_1 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_2 091312_0 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091712_1 091912_1 092012_0 092012_1 092012_2 092312_0 092412_0 092812_0 092912_0 100412_0 100812_0 100912_0 100912_1 101012_0 101012_1 101212_0 101312_0 102912_0 110412_0 110412_1 110512_2 110612_0 111312_0 111312_1 111312_2 111412_0 111412_2 111812_0 111912_0 112812_0 112912_0 121812_0 121912_0 122312_0 122612_0 122712_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.