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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).

   
010712_0 010812_0 010812_1 011012_0 011812_0 011912_0 012512_0 020412_0 021012_0 021012_1 021612_0 021812_0 021812_1 030512_0 030612_0 030712_0 030812_0 031112_0 031512_0 031612_0 031712_0 033012_0 040412_0 040812_0 040912_0 040912_1 041112_0 041712_0 041712_1 042112_0 042112_1 042312_0 042412_0 042512_0 042612_0 042712_0 042812_0 042912_0 050212_0 050312_0 050412_0 050412_1 050512_0 050912_0 051012_0 051012_1 051612_0 051612_1 051712_0 051712_1 051812_0 051912_0 052012_0 052112_0 052112_1 052212_0 052312_0 052412_0 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 052812_1 052812_2 052812_3 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 053012_0 053012_1 053112_0 060112_0 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060212_3 060212_4 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060412_0 060612_0 060712_0 060812_0 060912_0 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061112_1 061212_0 061312_0 061412_0 061412_1 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061512_3 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061812_1 061912_0 062012_0 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062312_0 062512_0 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 063012_0 070212_0 070312_0 070312_1 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070812_0 070812_1 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 070912_4 071012_0 071012_1 071012_2 071012_3 071012_4 071112_0 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071212_3 071312_0 071312_1 071412_0 071412_1 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071712_3 071812_0 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072112_3 072112_4 072112_5 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072512_4 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072612_4 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 080112_0 080112_1 080212_0 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080312_4 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080612_3 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081412_0 081412_1 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081712_4 081812_0 081812_1 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082012_4 082012_5 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082112_3 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082212_3 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082412_4 082512_0 082512_1 082512_2 082512_3 082512_4 082512_5 082512_6 082612_0 082912_0 083012_0 083112_0 090112_0 090312_0 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090912_0 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091312_0 091312_1 091412_0 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091512_3 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091712_1 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_1 092012_2 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092212_0 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092912_0 092912_1 093012_0 093012_1 093012_2 100112_0 100112_1 100212_0 100212_1 100312_0 100412_0 100512_0 100612_0 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 101212_0 101312_0 101312_1 101412_0 102212_0 102312_0 102412_0 111012_0 111012_1 112512_0 112712_0 112812_0 121812_0 122212_0 122312_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.