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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).

   
010112_0 010412_0 010712_0 010712_1 010812_0 010812_1 010812_2 011112_0 011112_1 011112_2 011412_0 011612_0 011712_0 011812_0 011812_1 011812_2 012012_0 012112_0 012612_0 013112_0 020412_0 020912_0 020912_1 021012_0 021112_0 021912_0 022012_0 022012_1 030112_0 031812_0 032612_0 032712_0 032712_1 032812_0 032912_0 033012_0 040112_0 041112_0 041212_0 041212_1 041912_0 042612_0 042912_0 050112_0 050112_1 050112_2 050212_0 050212_1 050212_2 050312_0 050412_0 050412_1 050512_0 050512_1 050612_0 050712_0 050712_1 050712_2 050712_3 050712_4 050812_0 050812_1 050912_0 051112_0 051312_0 051812_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052412_3 052512_0 052612_0 052712_0 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 060112_0 060212_0 060312_0 060312_1 060512_0 060612_0 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060712_1 060712_2 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_0 061012_1 061112_0 061112_1 061212_0 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061512_0 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_3 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 061912_3 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062012_3 062012_4 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062212_0 062212_1 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062712_0 062812_0 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 063012_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070212_3 070312_0 070312_1 070312_2 070312_3 070312_4 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070512_0 070612_0 070712_0 070812_0 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071312_1 071312_2 071312_3 071312_4 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071412_3 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_3 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071712_3 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 071912_3 071912_4 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072112_3 072112_4 072112_5 072212_0 072212_1 072212_2 072212_3 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072612_4 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 073112_0 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_0 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080912_0 081012_0 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_1 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082012_4 082112_0 082212_0 082312_0 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082612_3 082612_4 082712_0 082712_1 082812_0 082912_0 082912_1 082912_2 082912_3 082912_4 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083012_3 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 083112_3 083112_4 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090212_0 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090312_3 090312_4 090412_0 090412_1 090412_2 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_1 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090812_3 090912_0 090912_1 091312_0 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091712_0 091712_1 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092112_0 092212_0 092312_0 092412_0 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 100712_0 100712_1 100812_0 100812_1 100812_2 100912_0 101212_0 101312_0 101412_0 101612_0 101612_1 101712_0 101712_1 101712_2 101912_0 102012_0 102112_0 103012_0 110612_0 111412_0 111512_0 111512_1 111512_2 111712_0 111712_1 112212_0 112312_0 112412_0 112812_0 120412_0 120612_0 120812_0 121812_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.