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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).

   
010912_0 011012_0 020512_0 020912_0 021212_0 021212_1 021412_0 021512_0 021612_0 021712_1 022112_0 022212_1 022312_0 030312_0 030312_1 031212_0 032312_0 032312_1 032312_2 032912_0 033012_0 040812_0 040912_0 041112_0 041512_0 042512_0 050112_0 050212_1 050312_0 051112_1 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051312_1 051512_1 051512_2 051712_0 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051812_3 051912_0 051912_1 051912_2 051912_4 052012_0 052012_1 052312_1 052312_3 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052412_3 052512_1 052812_0 052912_0 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053012_3 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060712_0 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_1 060912_2 061012_0 061012_1 061112_1 061112_2 061212_1 061212_2 061212_3 061312_0 061312_1 061512_0 061612_0 061612_1 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_3 061812_4 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062012_5 062112_0 062112_1 062112_3 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062212_4 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062512_3 062512_4 062612_1 062712_0 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 063012_0 063012_1 070112_0 070112_1 070312_2 070412_1 070412_2 070512_1 070612_1 070712_1 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_1 071112_4 071212_2 071212_3 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071312_4 071312_5 071412_0 071412_2 071412_3 071512_0 071512_1 071612_0 071612_2 071712_1 071712_2 071812_1 071812_3 071912_0 071912_1 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_0 072312_1 072412_0 072412_1 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_2 072712_0 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072812_3 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_2 073112_2 073112_3 080112_0 080112_3 080212_1 080312_1 080612_0 080712_0 080712_2 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081412_2 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_1 081612_3 081712_0 081712_2 081712_3 081712_4 081712_7 081812_2 081912_0 081912_1 082012_0 082012_1 082012_3 082112_0 082112_1 082112_3 082212_1 082212_2 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082712_1 082812_0 082912_0 083012_0 090112_0 090112_1 090212_1 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090312_3 090412_0 090412_1 090412_3 090412_4 090412_5 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090512_3 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090712_3 090812_0 090812_1 090912_1 090912_2 090912_3 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091312_1 091512_1 091512_2 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_1 091812_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_2 092112_3 092212_0 092212_2 092312_1 092312_2 092512_0 092612_1 092612_2 092712_0 092712_1 092712_2 100112_0 100212_0 100312_0 100412_0 100412_1 100512_0 100612_0 100712_0 100712_2 100712_3 100812_1 100812_2 100812_3 100912_0 101012_2 101112_0 101112_1 101212_0 101312_1 101412_0 101412_2 101512_0 101512_1 101612_0 101712_0 101712_1 101812_0 102412_0 102512_0 110212_0 112412_0 113012_0 120312_0 120912_0 122512_0 122812_0 122912_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.