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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).

   
010312_0 010512_0 010512_1 012512_0 012712_0 020612_0 020612_1 020712_0 020712_2 021812_0 022312_0 022312_1 022412_1 022712_0 022712_1 022912_0 030512_1 032112_0 032712_1 032812_1 040212_0 040312_0 040312_1 040412_0 040512_1 040612_1 040612_2 040912_1 041212_1 041412_0 041912_0 042012_0 042212_0 042312_1 042312_2 042412_0 042412_1 042412_2 042512_0 042512_1 042612_0 050112_0 050112_1 050212_0 050212_2 050912_2 050912_3 050912_4 051012_1 051012_2 051012_3 051212_1 051212_2 051212_3 051312_0 051312_2 051412_0 051412_1 051412_2 051512_1 051512_2 051612_0 051712_1 051712_2 051812_0 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052212_1 052212_3 052212_4 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052312_3 052412_0 052412_3 052412_4 052412_5 052412_6 052412_7 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052612_0 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 060112_1 060712_0 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061012_4 061012_5 061112_3 061112_5 061112_6 061112_7 061212_1 061212_3 061212_4 061312_1 061312_2 061312_3 061412_0 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061612_1 061712_1 061712_3 061712_4 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062212_1 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070112_4 070112_5 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070312_0 070312_1 070312_3 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070512_0 070512_1 070512_3 070612_0 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070712_3 070812_1 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071212_2 071212_3 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_1 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 071912_1 072212_0 072212_1 072312_0 072312_2 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072512_0 072512_1 072512_3 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080412_4 080412_6 080412_7 080512_0 080612_0 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_2 081212_0 081312_0 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081812_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082312_1 082312_2 082412_0 082412_2 082412_3 082512_1 082512_2 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082612_4 082712_2 082712_3 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 083112_3 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090512_2 090512_4 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090612_3 090712_0 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_2 091712_0 091812_1 091812_2 091912_1 091912_2 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_1 092212_2 092212_3 092312_1 092312_2 092412_0 092412_2 092512_1 092512_2 092612_0 092612_1 092712_0 092712_1 092812_0 092812_1 092812_2 092912_0 092912_1 100112_0 100612_0 100712_0 100712_1 100812_0 100912_0 100912_1 101012_0 101012_1 101512_0 101912_1 102012_0 102012_1 102012_2 102112_0 102212_0 102312_0 102412_0 102412_1 102412_2 102912_0 102912_1 102912_2 103012_1 103012_2 103012_3 110112_0 110212_0 110312_0 110412_0 110812_0 110912_0 111512_0 111612_0 112012_0 112212_0 112212_1 112312_0 112412_0 112412_1 112612_0 112612_1 112612_2 112812_0 112912_0 112912_1 120212_0 120712_0 120912_0 120912_1 121012_0 121112_0 122812_0 122912_0 123012_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.