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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).

   
021312_0 021412_0 021512_0 021512_1 030612_0 031312_0 031412_0 031512_0 032412_0 032712_0 032812_0 032812_1 032912_0 040512_0 040612_0 042012_0 042012_1 042012_2 042112_0 042112_1 042212_0 042312_0 042512_0 042612_0 042712_0 042712_1 042812_0 042912_0 050312_0 050412_0 050612_0 050712_0 050712_1 050812_0 051612_0 051712_0 051812_0 051912_0 052012_0 052012_1 052112_0 052112_1 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052412_0 052412_1 052512_0 052612_0 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 060112_0 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060812_4 060812_5 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061212_3 061212_4 061212_5 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061612_3 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_3 061712_4 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_3 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062212_4 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062412_3 062512_0 062612_0 062812_0 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_3 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070712_0 070712_1 070812_0 070812_1 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071112_0 071112_1 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071412_0 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071912_0 071912_1 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080112_3 080112_4 080212_0 080212_1 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080312_4 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080512_3 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080812_3 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081412_4 081512_0 081512_1 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_1 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 081912_3 081912_4 081912_5 082012_0 082012_1 082112_0 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082612_3 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 090212_0 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 092112_0 092212_0 092312_0 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 092612_1 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 100412_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 100712_1 100712_2 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 101112_1 101212_0 101412_0 101512_0 101712_0 101712_1 101812_0 101912_0 102012_0 102112_0 102212_0 102212_1 102312_0 102312_1 102412_0 102412_1 102512_0 102612_0 110312_0 110512_0 111212_0 111312_0 111612_0 112212_0 112312_0 112812_0 121112_0 121212_0 121812_0 121912_0 122812_0 122812_1 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.