Skip navigation

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).

   
011012_0 011112_1 011412_0 011412_1 011612_0 012712_0 012812_0 012812_1 020112_0 021212_0 021312_0 022012_0 022412_0 032112_0 032212_0 040912_1 041012_0 041012_1 041012_2 041212_0 041612_0 041712_0 041812_0 041812_1 041912_1 042012_0 042812_0 050212_0 050312_0 050312_1 050412_0 050512_0 050612_0 050812_0 050912_0 051012_0 051212_0 051812_1 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052012_3 052112_0 052212_0 052312_0 052412_0 052512_1 052612_0 052612_2 052612_4 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 052912_3 052912_5 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 053112_3 053112_4 060112_0 060112_1 060212_1 060212_2 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060712_3 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060812_4 060812_5 060912_1 060912_3 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_2 061412_3 061512_0 061512_1 061512_3 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061812_1 061812_3 061912_3 061912_4 062012_0 062012_2 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062312_0 062412_0 062412_1 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062612_2 062712_0 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062812_5 062812_6 062912_0 062912_2 062912_3 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070212_5 070312_0 070312_2 070312_3 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070812_3 070912_2 070912_3 070912_4 070912_6 070912_7 071012_1 071012_2 071012_3 071012_4 071012_5 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071112_3 071112_4 071212_0 071212_2 071312_1 071312_4 071412_0 071412_1 071412_4 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 071912_3 071912_4 071912_6 072012_0 072012_2 072112_2 072112_3 072112_4 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072312_0 072512_0 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_3 072712_4 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073012_2 073112_1 080112_0 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080412_0 080412_2 080412_5 080512_0 080512_1 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080812_2 080812_3 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081312_2 081412_0 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081512_3 081612_0 081712_0 081712_1 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 082312_0 082312_1 082412_2 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082712_0 082712_1 082712_3 082812_1 082812_2 082912_1 082912_2 082912_4 083012_1 090112_0 090112_1 090112_3 090212_0 090212_3 090312_0 090312_2 090412_0 090412_1 090812_0 090912_1 091012_0 091012_1 091012_3 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091112_3 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091312_3 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091612_0 091712_0 091712_1 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_1 092012_2 092012_3 092112_0 092112_1 092412_0 092612_0 092712_0 092912_0 093012_0 093012_1 093012_2 093012_3 100112_0 100112_1 100312_0 100412_0 100412_1 100512_1 100512_2 100512_3 100612_0 100612_1 100612_2 100712_0 100712_1 101012_0 101212_0 101212_1 101412_0 101412_1 101512_0 101512_1 102612_0 102912_0 103112_0 110112_0 110112_1 111812_0 112312_0 112312_1 112312_2 112412_0 112412_1 120312_0 120312_1 120712_0 121012_0 122012_0 122212_0 122312_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.