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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).

   
011712_0 011712_1 011912_0 012712_0 013012_0 020112_0 021112_0 021312_0 021312_1 021512_0 021512_1 021612_0 021612_1 021612_2 021712_0 021712_1 021812_0 021912_0 022012_0 022012_1 022012_2 022312_0 022312_1 022412_0 030812_0 030912_0 030912_1 031112_0 031312_0 031412_0 031412_1 031612_0 040212_0 040312_0 040312_1 040412_0 040712_0 041412_0 041812_0 042712_0 050112_0 050212_0 050312_0 050512_0 050612_0 050712_0 050712_1 050812_0 050812_1 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051012_1 051012_2 051112_0 051112_1 051212_0 051312_0 051412_0 051512_0 051612_0 051712_0 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051812_3 051912_0 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052112_0 052112_1 052312_0 052512_0 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 053012_0 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060212_0 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060512_3 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060612_3 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060712_3 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061212_0 061312_0 061512_0 061812_0 061912_0 062012_0 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062512_0 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062912_0 062912_1 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070612_0 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071312_0 071412_0 071412_1 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071912_0 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072112_3 072112_4 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072312_4 072312_5 072412_0 072412_1 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073112_0 080212_0 080312_0 080412_0 080712_0 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080812_3 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_0 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081812_4 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082112_3 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 083112_3 083112_4 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090112_4 090112_5 090112_6 090112_7 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090212_3 090212_4 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090312_3 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090512_3 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090812_0 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091212_3 091412_0 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092012_0 092112_0 092212_0 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092412_1 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 092612_1 092612_2 092612_3 092712_0 092712_1 092912_0 092912_1 092912_2 093012_0 093012_1 093012_2 100112_0 100212_0 100212_1 100212_2 100212_3 100312_0 100312_1 100412_0 100412_1 100512_0 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 100912_0 100912_1 101012_0 101112_0 101112_1 101112_2 101112_3 101212_0 101212_1 101212_2 101412_0 102012_0 102112_0 102312_0 102412_0 102912_0 110112_0 110112_1 110112_2 110212_0 110312_0 110312_1 110412_0 110712_0 110912_0 111012_0 111112_0 111812_0 111912_0 112112_0 112412_0 112412_1 112512_0 112512_1 112612_0 112712_0 120312_0 120812_0 122112_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.