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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 010812_0 010912_0 010912_1 010912_2 011012_0 011012_1 011112_0 011112_1 011212_0 011812_0 012712_0 021212_0 021912_0 022312_0 032012_0 032312_0 032312_1 032412_0 032612_0 032812_0 032812_1 040112_0 040612_0 040712_0 040812_0 041112_0 041212_0 041812_0 041912_0 041912_1 041912_2 042012_0 042012_1 042212_0 042312_0 042512_0 042512_1 042812_0 050512_0 050612_0 050612_1 050612_2 050712_0 050712_1 050712_2 050712_3 050712_4 050812_0 050812_1 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051012_1 051112_0 051112_1 051112_2 051112_3 051212_0 051212_1 051212_2 051212_3 051312_0 051412_0 051512_0 051612_0 051712_0 051712_1 051712_2 051812_0 052012_0 052512_0 052612_0 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053112_0 053112_1 053112_2 053112_3 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060312_3 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060512_0 060512_1 060512_2 060512_3 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060812_1 060812_2 060812_3 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 060912_3 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061012_3 061012_4 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061112_3 061112_4 061112_5 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061212_3 061212_4 061212_5 061212_6 061212_7 061212_8 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061412_3 061412_4 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061712_0 061712_1 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062512_0 062612_0 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062812_3 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 063012_3 063012_4 063012_5 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070612_3 070712_0 070812_0 070912_0 071012_0 071112_0 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071312_1 071412_0 071412_1 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_3 071512_4 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071712_0 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 072012_0 072112_0 072112_1 072212_0 072412_0 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072712_0 072712_1 072812_0 072912_0 072912_1 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080312_1 080412_0 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080612_3 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 080912_3 081012_0 081112_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081212_3 081212_4 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081412_0 081412_1 081412_2 081412_3 081412_4 081412_5 081412_6 081412_7 081412_8 081412_9 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 081612_1 081712_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081712_4 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081812_3 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 081912_3 082012_0 082012_1 082012_2 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082512_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082712_0 082712_1 082912_0 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090212_0 090312_0 090412_0 090512_0 090512_1 090612_0 090612_1 090612_2 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090812_0 090812_1 090812_2 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091112_0 091312_0 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091712_0 091712_1 092212_0 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 092612_1 092912_0 093012_0 100312_0 100512_0 100512_1 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 100712_1 100812_0 100912_0 101012_0 101012_1 101012_2 101112_0 101112_1 101112_2 101212_0 101212_1 101312_0 101412_0 101512_0 101812_0 101912_0 101912_1 102412_0 102512_0 102512_1 110112_0 110612_0 110712_0 111512_0 112012_0 113012_0 120212_0 120212_1 120312_0 121912_0 122812_0 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.