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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: 198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022

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).

   
012312_0 012812_0 020212_0 021112_0 021612_0 021712_0 021912_0 021912_1 031812_0 032112_0 032812_0 032812_1 032912_0 041212_0 041312_0 041412_0 041412_1 041512_0 041512_1 041712_0 041812_0 041912_0 041912_1 042012_0 042012_1 042012_2 042312_0 042312_1 042412_0 042412_1 042912_0 050112_0 050112_1 050112_2 050212_0 050312_0 050412_0 050412_1 050612_0 050712_0 050712_1 050812_0 050912_0 051012_0 051112_0 051112_1 051212_0 051212_1 051312_0 051612_0 051712_0 051712_1 051912_0 052012_0 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052212_0 052212_1 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_0 052612_0 052612_1 052612_2 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052712_3 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052812_3 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060212_0 060212_1 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060312_3 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060412_3 060512_0 060512_1 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061112_0 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061312_3 061312_4 061412_0 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062212_0 062212_1 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062912_0 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070212_4 070212_5 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070312_3 070312_4 070312_5 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070612_4 070612_5 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070912_0 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071412_4 071412_5 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 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 072812_5 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073012_4 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080112_3 080112_4 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080512_3 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080612_3 080612_4 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080712_3 080712_4 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081312_0 081312_1 081512_0 081512_1 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081612_5 081612_6 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081712_4 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081912_0 082012_0 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082712_0 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 082912_3 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083012_3 083012_4 083012_5 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 083112_3 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090112_4 090112_5 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090212_3 090212_4 090212_5 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090312_3 090412_0 090412_1 090412_2 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090612_3 090612_4 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090712_3 090712_4 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090912_0 090912_1 091512_0 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 092312_0 092412_0 092412_1 092412_2 092412_3 100212_0 100312_0 100312_1 100512_0 100612_0 100712_0 100812_0 101112_0 101112_1 101212_0 101212_1 101212_2 101312_0 101412_0 101612_0 101612_1 101712_0 102212_0 102212_1 102612_0 102712_0 103112_0 110112_0 110112_1 110612_0 111312_0 111412_0 111612_0 111712_0 112412_0 112412_1 120612_0 120612_1 121912_0 121912_1 122012_0 122012_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.