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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).

   
010112_0 010212_0 010212_1 010612_0 010612_1 010712_0 010712_1 010712_2 010812_1 011012_0 020412_0 020512_0 030112_0 030212_0 032012_0 032312_0 040712_0 042012_0 042412_1 042412_2 042612_0 042612_1 043012_1 050112_1 050612_0 050912_0 051012_0 051212_0 051312_0 051312_1 051312_2 051412_0 051412_1 051712_0 052212_0 052412_0 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052712_0 053012_1 053112_0 053112_1 060112_1 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060312_0 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060512_0 060512_3 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060712_2 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 060912_1 061012_1 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_1 061412_2 061412_3 061412_4 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061712_0 061912_0 062012_0 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_1 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_1 062612_2 062612_3 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 070212_0 070212_1 070212_3 070212_4 070212_6 070312_0 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_2 070612_0 070612_2 070612_3 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071312_1 071412_0 071612_0 071612_1 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071912_1 072012_2 072112_0 072312_0 072412_0 072412_1 072512_0 072512_3 072612_0 072612_1 072612_3 072612_4 072712_0 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080312_0 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080512_2 080612_1 080612_2 080612_4 080712_1 080712_2 080712_5 080712_6 080712_7 080812_1 080812_2 080912_2 080912_3 081112_1 081212_0 081212_1 081312_1 081312_4 081412_0 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_4 081612_0 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081612_5 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_2 081812_3 081912_1 081912_2 081912_4 081912_5 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082112_0 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082412_4 082412_5 082512_0 082512_1 082512_4 082612_0 082612_2 082612_3 082612_4 082712_0 082712_1 083012_0 083012_1 083112_1 083112_2 090112_0 090212_0 090312_0 090312_1 090412_0 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_1 091012_0 091112_1 091212_1 091312_2 091312_3 091412_0 091412_2 091512_0 091512_2 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_1 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092112_0 092212_1 092312_1 092312_3 092412_0 092712_0 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 093012_0 100112_0 100112_1 100212_1 100212_2 100412_0 100412_1 100512_0 100612_0 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 101512_0 101612_0 101612_1 101712_0 102312_0 102312_1 102412_0 110412_0 110512_2 110612_0 110612_1 110912_1 111012_0 111312_0 120512_0 121112_0 121212_0 121212_2 121212_3 121312_0 122812_1 122812_3 122912_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.