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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 IVMRMSPRISMCONUS404CoCoRaHS      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).

   
010112_0 010112_1 010212_0 010212_1 010312_1 010412_0 010412_1 011012_0 011112_0 011612_0 011612_1 011712_0 011712_1 012812_0 012812_1 012912_0 020612_0 020912_0 021212_0 021512_0 021612_0 021712_0 021712_1 022312_0 022512_0 022512_1 022612_0 022812_1 030112_0 030412_0 030612_0 031112_0 031212_0 031212_1 031212_2 031512_0 031612_0 032112_0 032212_0 032312_0 032512_0 032512_1 032712_0 032812_0 040512_0 040712_0 040812_0 041312_0 041412_0 041512_0 042012_0 042612_0 042712_0 050112_0 050212_0 050612_0 050712_0 050712_1 050712_2 050812_0 051012_0 051112_1 051112_2 051212_0 051212_1 051312_0 051312_1 051312_3 051412_1 051412_2 051412_3 051412_4 051512_0 051912_0 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052112_0 052112_1 052312_0 052412_1 052512_2 052612_1 052612_2 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052812_3 052812_4 052912_0 052912_1 052912_3 053012_1 053012_2 053012_3 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060112_1 060212_0 060212_1 060212_3 060312_0 060312_2 060412_0 060412_2 060412_3 060612_0 060612_1 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 061012_1 061112_0 061112_1 061312_0 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061412_3 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061712_3 061712_4 061812_0 061912_0 062012_0 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062412_1 062412_2 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062712_0 062712_2 062812_0 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_3 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_5 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070312_3 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 070912_1 071012_0 071112_0 071212_1 071212_3 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071512_0 071512_2 071512_3 071512_4 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071712_1 071712_2 071912_1 072012_0 072112_1 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072612_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_2 072912_3 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_1 080212_2 080212_3 080312_2 080312_3 080312_4 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080412_4 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080512_3 080512_4 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080612_3 080712_0 080712_1 080712_3 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081312_1 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_2 081512_3 081612_1 081712_0 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082212_2 082312_0 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082612_1 082712_0 082712_2 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 082912_3 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090212_0 090212_2 090312_0 090312_1 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090712_0 090812_0 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_1 091412_0 091512_1 091612_0 091712_0 091812_0 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092312_0 092312_1 092312_2 092312_3 092412_0 092412_1 092412_2 092412_3 092512_0 092512_1 092512_2 092712_0 092812_0 093012_0 100212_0 100212_1 100212_2 100212_3 100312_0 100312_1 100412_2 100512_0 100512_1 100812_0 100912_0 101312_0 101412_0 101412_1 102512_1 102612_0 102612_1 102812_0 102912_0 110312_0 111612_0 111712_0 120212_0 120312_0 120412_0 120412_1 120512_0 120712_0 121212_0 121812_0 121912_1 121912_2 122312_0 122712_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.