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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).

   
010312_0 020612_0 021712_0 021812_0 022312_0 022612_0 022612_1 022912_0 032712_0 032812_0 040312_0 040412_0 040512_0 040612_0 040712_0 041812_0 042212_0 042312_0 042312_1 042312_2 042412_0 042412_1 042412_2 042512_0 042512_1 042612_0 043012_0 043012_1 050112_0 050112_1 050112_2 050212_0 050312_0 050912_0 051112_0 051112_1 051112_2 051112_3 051212_0 051312_0 051312_1 051312_2 051412_0 051412_1 051412_2 051412_3 051512_0 051812_0 051812_1 051912_0 051912_1 051912_2 052112_0 052212_0 052212_1 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_0 052712_0 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 060212_0 060412_0 060512_0 060612_0 060812_0 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061012_4 061012_5 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061112_4 061112_5 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061712_2 061712_3 061812_0 061812_1 061812_2 061812_3 061812_4 061912_0 062012_0 062112_0 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062612_1 062612_2 062612_3 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070112_3 070112_4 070112_5 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070312_0 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070512_4 070512_5 070612_0 070812_0 070912_0 070912_1 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071112_3 071212_0 071212_1 071212_2 071312_0 071312_1 071412_0 071412_1 071412_2 071512_0 071512_1 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071612_3 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071712_3 071712_4 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 071912_3 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_3 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072412_3 072412_4 072412_5 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072812_4 072912_0 072912_1 072912_2 073012_0 073012_1 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 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 080612_0 080712_0 080712_1 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081212_0 081212_1 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081512_4 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081612_3 081612_4 081712_0 081812_0 081912_0 081912_1 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082012_3 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082512_0 082512_1 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082712_2 082712_3 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090112_3 090212_0 090212_1 090312_0 090512_0 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090612_3 090712_0 090812_0 090812_1 090912_0 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091212_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091712_0 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092012_1 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092412_0 092512_0 092612_0 092612_1 092612_2 092712_0 092712_1 092712_2 092812_0 092812_1 092812_2 092912_0 092912_1 093012_0 093012_1 100112_0 100212_0 100212_1 100412_0 100512_0 100612_0 100712_0 100912_0 101012_0 101112_0 101112_1 101112_2 101212_0 101412_0 101912_0 102012_0 102012_1 102012_2 102112_0 102212_0 102212_1 102512_0 102612_0 102712_0 102712_1 102712_2 102812_0 102812_1 103012_0 103112_0 110112_0 110212_0 110312_0 110312_1 110412_0 110412_1 110812_0 110912_0 111612_0 111712_0 111812_0 112212_0 112512_0 120712_0 120912_0 121012_0 121112_0 122812_0 122912_0 123012_0 123012_1 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.