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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).

   
011012_0 011112_0 020112_0 020912_0 021012_0 021012_1 021112_0 021512_0 030112_0 030212_0 030212_1 030312_1 030412_0 030512_0 030612_0 031112_0 031212_0 031312_0 032912_0 033112_0 033112_1 040412_0 040512_0 040712_0 040812_0 041412_0 041512_0 042812_0 042912_0 042912_1 043012_1 043012_2 050112_0 050112_1 050112_2 050212_0 050212_1 050912_0 050912_1 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051212_3 051312_1 051312_2 051412_1 051512_0 051612_0 051712_0 052212_0 052212_1 052212_2 052312_1 052312_2 052512_0 052512_1 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052712_2 052712_3 052812_1 052812_2 052912_1 052912_4 053012_0 053012_1 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060312_3 060412_1 060512_1 060512_2 060712_0 060712_2 060712_3 060812_0 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061612_0 061712_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_2 061912_3 061912_4 062012_0 062012_3 062012_4 062112_0 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_3 062412_0 062412_1 062412_3 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062612_1 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_4 063012_0 063012_1 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070112_4 070312_0 070312_2 070412_0 070512_2 070612_3 070712_2 070912_1 071012_1 071012_2 071112_3 071212_0 071212_3 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_6 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_4 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071712_1 071712_3 071812_0 071812_1 071912_0 072112_0 072212_2 072212_3 072312_0 072312_2 072412_2 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080212_1 080312_0 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_1 080512_3 080612_0 080612_4 080612_5 080612_6 080712_0 080712_2 080712_3 080712_4 080812_2 080812_3 080912_4 081012_0 081012_1 081012_3 081012_5 081012_6 081012_7 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081112_3 081212_0 081212_2 081312_1 081312_3 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081512_4 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_4 081612_5 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_3 081912_0 081912_1 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_4 082112_1 082212_2 082212_3 082212_4 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082312_3 082312_4 082312_5 082412_2 082412_5 082412_7 082512_0 082512_3 082512_4 082712_0 082712_2 082812_0 082812_1 082912_1 082912_2 083012_0 083112_0 083112_2 083112_3 090112_2 090212_0 090212_1 090312_2 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090712_2 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091012_3 091012_4 091112_3 091112_5 091212_1 091212_2 091212_3 091312_0 091312_2 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 091712_0 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092012_1 092112_0 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092712_0 092812_0 092812_1 092812_2 092912_1 092912_2 093012_1 093012_3 093012_4 093012_5 100112_2 100112_4 100212_1 100312_1 100412_0 100512_1 101112_0 101312_0 101312_1 101412_0 101512_0 101612_0 110512_0 112612_1 112712_0 112712_1 112812_0 112912_0 113012_0 120512_0 121312_0 122212_1 122312_0 122312_1 122312_2 122412_1 122512_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.