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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).

   
010112_0 010212_1 010812_0 010912_0 012612_0 012612_1 012712_0 012812_0 012912_0 020812_0 020912_0 022512_0 022612_0 022812_0 030112_0 030312_0 030412_0 031512_0 031612_0 031612_1 032412_0 032712_0 032812_0 032912_0 040212_0 040312_0 040812_1 041612_0 041612_1 041712_0 041812_2 041912_0 041912_1 042712_1 042712_2 042712_3 042812_0 042812_1 042912_0 043012_0 043012_1 050112_0 050212_0 050212_1 050312_1 050412_0 050512_0 050612_0 050712_0 050812_0 050912_0 051012_1 051112_0 051112_1 051212_1 051612_0 051612_1 052012_0 052112_0 052212_2 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052312_3 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052412_3 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_1 052612_4 052612_5 052612_7 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052712_3 052712_4 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_1 060212_0 060212_1 060312_0 060512_0 060612_0 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060712_3 060812_1 060812_2 061012_0 061112_0 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061212_3 061412_0 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061512_3 061612_0 061612_1 061612_3 061712_0 061712_1 061712_3 061712_4 061712_6 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_4 061912_3 061912_4 061912_5 061912_6 062012_0 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062012_5 062112_0 062112_2 062112_4 062212_0 062212_1 062312_0 062412_1 062512_2 062612_0 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_4 062812_2 062912_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070312_0 070312_2 070312_3 070312_4 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_4 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_2 071012_0 071012_1 071112_1 071212_1 071312_0 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071612_0 072012_0 072112_0 072212_0 072312_0 072312_1 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072412_4 072612_1 072712_1 072712_2 072712_4 072812_0 072812_1 072812_3 072812_4 072812_5 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_2 080112_1 080412_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081012_2 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081412_4 081512_0 081512_2 081512_3 081612_0 081612_3 081612_4 081612_5 081712_0 081712_2 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081912_0 081912_1 081912_3 082012_0 082012_1 082112_1 082112_2 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082612_1 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082712_3 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 090212_0 090312_1 090412_0 090612_0 090712_0 090812_0 090912_1 090912_2 090912_3 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091112_3 091212_0 091212_2 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091312_3 091312_4 091412_0 091412_1 091412_2 091512_0 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_0 091712_1 091712_2 091812_1 091812_2 091812_3 091912_1 091912_3 092012_0 092012_2 092112_0 092112_2 092212_0 092212_1 092312_2 092412_0 092412_1 092612_0 092712_0 092912_0 100512_0 100512_1 100712_0 100912_1 101012_0 101012_1 101412_0 101512_0 102212_0 102212_1 103012_1 103112_0 103112_1 111112_0 111212_0 111312_0 111912_0 112112_0 112812_0 120812_0 120812_2 120812_3 120912_1 120912_3 120912_4 121312_0 121312_1 121412_0 121412_1 121412_2 121612_0 121612_1 121812_0 121912_0 122412_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.