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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).

   
010412_0 011012_0 011312_0 011612_0 012012_0 012212_0 012312_0 020412_0 020512_0 020912_0 022112_0 030312_0 030512_0 030612_0 031012_0 032812_0 032912_0 033012_0 040612_0 042612_0 042812_0 043012_0 050212_0 050512_0 051112_0 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051312_0 051312_1 051412_0 051412_1 051412_2 051512_0 051612_0 051612_1 051612_2 051712_0 051712_1 051712_2 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051912_0 052012_0 052212_0 052412_0 052412_1 052612_0 053112_0 060112_0 060112_1 060212_0 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060412_3 060412_4 060412_5 060512_0 060612_0 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061512_0 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061912_0 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062212_4 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062812_4 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 063012_1 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070912_0 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071312_4 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071412_4 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_3 071612_0 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072312_0 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080212_3 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080512_1 080512_2 080512_3 080512_4 080512_5 080612_0 080612_1 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080712_3 080712_4 080812_0 080812_1 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081212_4 081212_5 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081512_0 081612_0 081712_0 081712_1 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081812_4 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082512_3 082512_4 082612_0 082612_1 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082712_3 082812_0 082812_1 082812_2 082812_3 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 083112_3 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090212_0 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090412_0 090412_1 090412_2 090412_3 090512_0 090512_1 090512_2 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090712_3 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 091012_0 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091812_0 091812_1 091812_2 091812_3 091912_0 092012_0 092012_1 092012_2 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092212_0 092212_1 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092912_0 093012_0 100112_0 100112_1 100212_0 100312_0 100612_0 100712_0 100812_0 100812_1 101112_0 101412_0 101412_1 101712_0 101912_0 102112_0 102312_0 102412_0 102712_0 102912_0 110612_0 110812_0 110912_0 110912_1 111012_0 111112_0 111212_0 111812_0 120512_0 120912_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.