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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).

   
010212_0 010312_0 010412_1 010512_1 010512_2 010512_3 010612_0 010612_1 010912_0 010912_1 010912_2 011012_0 011012_1 011012_2 011012_3 011112_1 011112_2 011112_3 011212_1 011212_2 011612_0 012112_0 012312_0 012312_1 012412_0 012412_1 020612_0 020712_0 020812_0 020812_1 020912_0 020912_1 021012_0 021012_1 021112_0 021112_1 021212_0 021412_0 021812_0 022112_0 022212_0 022212_1 022212_2 022812_0 030212_0 031012_0 031112_0 031512_0 031612_0 032412_0 032512_0 032912_1 033012_0 033012_1 033112_0 033112_1 040112_0 040312_0 040512_0 040812_0 040912_0 041112_0 041212_0 041312_0 041412_1 041512_1 041812_0 042512_0 042612_1 043012_1 050112_0 050112_1 050112_2 050412_0 050512_0 050912_1 051012_0 051112_0 051212_0 051612_0 051712_0 051712_1 051812_1 051812_2 051812_3 051912_1 051912_2 052012_0 052012_2 052112_0 052112_2 052212_0 052212_1 052312_1 052412_0 052512_0 052612_0 053112_0 060212_0 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060412_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060712_1 060712_3 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060812_4 060912_2 061012_0 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_1 061412_2 061412_3 061512_0 061512_1 061512_3 061612_0 061712_0 061812_0 062012_2 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062312_2 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062412_3 062612_1 062712_0 062912_0 063012_1 063012_2 070112_2 070112_3 070212_0 070412_0 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070912_3 071012_2 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071512_0 071512_1 071612_1 071712_0 071712_1 071812_1 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_3 072212_0 072212_2 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_2 072612_4 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_1 072812_3 072812_4 072812_5 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080212_0 080212_1 080312_0 080412_0 080512_0 080612_0 080712_0 080712_1 080812_1 080812_2 080812_3 080812_4 080912_2 081012_0 081112_0 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081312_4 081412_1 081412_3 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081712_0 081712_1 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081912_0 082112_0 082212_0 082212_1 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 090112_0 090112_1 090212_0 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091212_0 091612_0 091612_1 092012_0 092112_1 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092412_0 092412_1 092412_2 092412_3 092512_1 092512_2 092612_1 092612_2 092712_0 092712_1 092712_2 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 092912_1 093012_0 100112_0 100112_2 100212_0 100212_1 100212_2 100312_1 100412_0 100412_1 100412_2 100512_1 100612_0 100712_0 100712_1 100812_0 100912_0 100912_2 101012_0 101212_0 101212_1 101512_0 101612_0 102312_0 102412_0 102512_0 102712_0 103012_0 103112_0 103112_1 110412_0 110412_1 110512_0 110712_0 110812_0 111712_0 111712_1 111812_0 111812_1 111812_2 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.