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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).

   
011012_0 011112_0 013112_0 020112_0 020912_0 021012_0 021412_0 030212_0 030212_1 030212_2 030312_1 030412_0 030612_0 031112_0 031212_0 032912_0 033112_0 033112_1 040312_0 040412_0 040712_0 041412_0 041412_1 042812_0 042912_0 042912_1 043012_0 050112_0 050112_1 050812_0 050912_0 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051212_3 051312_1 051312_2 051512_0 051612_0 051712_1 052212_0 052212_1 052212_2 052412_0 052412_1 052512_0 052512_1 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052812_3 052812_5 052912_0 053012_0 053112_1 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060212_3 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060512_3 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060812_0 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 061012_0 061012_1 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061312_1 061312_3 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061712_0 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_3 061912_0 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 061912_5 062012_0 062012_2 062112_0 062112_1 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_2 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062812_4 062912_1 062912_2 063012_0 063012_2 070112_0 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070412_0 070512_1 070512_2 070612_2 070612_3 070812_0 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071012_3 071112_4 071212_0 071212_1 071212_3 071312_1 071312_2 071412_2 071412_5 071512_0 071512_1 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071612_4 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071912_0 072112_0 072212_2 072212_4 072312_0 072412_0 072512_0 072812_0 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080312_0 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080512_1 080512_3 080512_4 080612_1 080612_2 080612_3 080712_1 080712_2 080712_4 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 080912_3 081012_1 081012_3 081012_4 081112_0 081112_2 081112_4 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_2 081312_3 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081512_3 081512_4 081612_2 081612_3 081612_5 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081812_1 081812_2 081912_0 081912_1 081912_3 082012_0 082012_1 082112_2 082112_3 082212_1 082212_2 082212_4 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082312_3 082312_4 082312_5 082412_1 082412_3 082412_4 082412_5 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082712_3 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 083012_1 083012_2 083112_0 090112_0 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090312_1 090412_0 090512_1 090512_2 090512_3 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_1 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091012_4 091112_1 091112_2 091112_3 091112_4 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091412_1 091712_0 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092012_0 092112_0 092112_1 092212_0 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092812_0 092812_1 092812_2 092812_3 092812_4 092912_3 093012_0 093012_2 100112_0 100212_1 100312_0 100912_0 101112_0 101112_1 101412_0 101512_0 102212_0 110312_0 110412_0 110612_0 112612_0 112612_1 112612_2 112712_0 112712_1 112712_2 113012_0 120412_1 120412_2 120512_0 121212_0 121312_0 122212_2 122312_0 122312_1 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.