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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).

   
010112_0 010212_0 010312_0 010312_1 010312_2 010412_1 011112_1 011812_0 011912_0 022812_0 031012_0 031212_0 031212_1 031312_1 032012_0 033012_0 040112_0 040512_0 040612_0 040712_0 040712_1 040712_2 040812_0 040812_2 041512_0 041812_1 042212_0 042312_0 042412_1 042912_0 043012_0 050112_0 050312_0 050512_0 051112_0 051212_0 051312_1 051412_1 051512_2 051612_0 051612_1 051912_0 052012_0 052112_0 052412_0 052612_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053112_0 060112_1 060212_0 060312_0 060412_0 060512_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_0 061112_0 061112_1 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061412_0 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061712_0 061912_0 062012_0 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062512_0 062612_2 062612_3 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062912_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_2 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071112_3 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071212_3 071212_4 071212_5 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071612_1 071712_0 072212_0 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072512_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_3 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072812_4 072812_5 072812_6 072912_0 072912_3 072912_5 072912_6 073012_0 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 080112_0 080112_1 080112_6 080212_0 080212_2 080212_3 080212_4 080312_0 080312_3 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080612_0 080712_0 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_1 081012_2 081012_4 081112_1 081112_4 081112_5 081212_0 081212_2 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081312_4 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081612_1 081612_3 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081812_5 081912_0 081912_1 082012_0 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082312_0 082412_0 082512_0 082512_2 082512_3 082612_1 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082712_3 082712_4 082812_2 082812_3 082812_4 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 082912_4 082912_5 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_2 090112_0 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090212_1 090212_3 090212_4 090412_0 090712_0 090812_0 090812_1 090912_1 091012_1 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091312_1 091312_2 091312_4 091312_5 091412_0 091412_1 091412_2 091412_4 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_2 091712_4 092212_0 092312_0 092312_2 092412_0 092412_2 092512_0 100512_0 100612_2 100712_0 100712_1 100712_2 100712_3 100812_1 100812_2 100812_3 100812_4 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 101512_2 101612_0 101612_1 101712_0 101712_2 101812_1 102112_0 102312_0 102712_0 102712_1 102912_0 110812_0 111612_0 111712_0 111812_0 111812_1 112212_0 112912_0 120112_0 120212_1 122012_0 122212_0 123012_0 123012_1 123112_1 123112_2

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.