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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 010212_1 010812_0 020612_0 020712_0 020712_1 020712_2 020712_3 020812_0 020812_1 021212_0 021212_1 022312_1 030612_0 031312_0 031412_0 031612_0 031612_1 031612_2 031712_1 032012_1 032012_2 032112_0 040912_0 041112_0 042012_0 042112_0 043012_0 050112_1 051412_0 051512_0 051512_1 051612_0 051612_1 051712_1 051912_0 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052212_1 052312_1 052412_0 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052912_0 053012_0 053112_1 060212_0 060412_0 060512_0 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 060912_4 061012_0 061112_0 061112_2 061212_0 061412_0 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062012_2 062012_3 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062312_1 062412_1 062512_0 062612_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 062912_4 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_3 063012_4 063012_5 063012_6 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070112_4 070112_5 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070912_1 070912_2 071012_1 071112_0 071212_0 071312_0 071412_0 071412_1 071512_2 071512_3 071612_1 071612_2 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072112_3 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072312_1 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072612_4 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072812_4 072912_1 072912_3 072912_4 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_3 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080312_0 080312_1 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080712_1 080912_0 080912_2 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081112_1 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081412_2 081412_3 081412_4 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081712_1 082212_0 082312_0 082412_0 082412_2 082412_3 082612_0 082612_1 082712_0 082812_0 082812_2 082912_1 082912_2 083012_0 083012_1 090112_0 090112_1 090212_0 090312_0 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090712_0 090812_0 090812_1 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091112_1 091312_0 091412_0 091412_1 091612_0 091712_0 091812_0 091912_1 092112_0 092212_0 092312_0 092412_0 092912_0 101012_0 101112_1 101212_0 101212_1 102012_0 102112_0 102112_1 102312_0 102412_0 102912_0 110812_0 110912_0 110912_1 110912_2 110912_3 111012_0 111212_0 111212_1 111312_0 111312_1 111512_0 120212_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.