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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).

   
010112_0 011512_0 011812_1 011912_0 021812_0 021912_0 022012_0 022112_0 022112_1 022212_0 031012_0 032112_0 032212_0 040312_0 040812_0 040912_0 041012_0 041212_0 041912_0 041912_1 042012_0 042012_1 042112_1 042212_0 042512_0 042612_0 042612_1 042712_0 042812_0 042812_1 042812_2 042912_1 050312_0 051012_1 051112_1 051112_2 051212_2 051212_3 051312_0 051312_1 051312_3 051412_2 051412_3 051512_0 051612_0 051712_0 051812_0 052012_1 052012_2 052012_3 052012_4 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052112_3 052212_1 052212_2 052312_1 052412_2 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052612_1 052612_2 052612_3 052712_0 052712_1 052712_3 052712_4 052812_1 052912_0 053012_0 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 060112_2 060212_2 060212_3 060412_2 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_2 061212_0 061212_4 061312_2 061312_3 061412_2 061412_3 061412_4 061512_0 061512_1 061612_1 061712_1 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062112_0 062112_1 062112_3 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062312_2 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062512_0 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_2 070312_1 070712_0 070712_1 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070812_4 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 070912_5 070912_6 071012_0 071012_2 071012_3 071112_0 071112_1 071112_3 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071312_1 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071512_1 071512_3 071612_0 071612_1 071612_3 071612_4 071712_1 071712_5 071812_0 071912_0 071912_1 072012_3 072012_4 072012_5 072112_4 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072412_5 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072612_0 072712_1 072812_1 072812_3 072812_4 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080212_3 080312_0 080312_2 080312_3 080512_1 080512_2 080612_0 080612_1 080612_3 080712_1 080712_2 080712_4 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081212_1 081212_2 081312_1 081412_0 081412_1 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_0 081612_2 081612_3 081612_5 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 082012_0 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082212_3 082512_0 082712_1 082812_0 082912_0 083012_0 083012_1 083112_1 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090612_0 090612_1 090712_0 090712_1 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091112_1 091212_1 091312_0 091412_0 091612_0 091612_2 091612_3 091612_4 091712_0 091712_2 091812_1 091912_0 092112_1 092312_0 092412_0 092412_1 092612_0 092712_0 092712_1 092812_1 092912_0 093012_0 100612_0 100712_2 100812_1 100812_2 100912_0 100912_2 100912_3 101012_0 101012_1 101012_2 101112_0 101212_0 101612_0 101712_1 101812_0 101912_0 101912_1 102112_1 103112_0 110912_0 111012_0 112212_1 112312_0 112412_0 113012_0 121212_0 121512_0 123112_0 123112_1

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.