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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 IVMRMSPRISMCONUS404      Current maps  Interactive maps of past events
Select average recurrence interval: 10-year100-year1000-year
Select duration: 72-hour48-hour24-hour6-hour
Select year: 201820192020202120222023202420252026

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).

   
011012_0 011012_1 012312_1 012412_0 012512_0 020412_2 020512_0 020612_0 020712_0 021212_0 030212_1 030512_0 030912_0 031512_0 031612_1 031612_2 032112_0 032212_0 032312_0 032512_0 040112_0 040212_0 040212_1 040312_0 040512_0 040612_1 040712_1 040912_0 041012_0 041012_1 041112_0 041212_0 041612_0 041612_1 041612_2 041712_0 041912_0 042612_0 042612_1 042712_0 042712_1 042812_0 042912_0 050112_0 050212_0 050212_1 050212_2 050212_3 050312_0 050412_0 050412_1 050512_0 050712_0 050712_2 050812_1 050812_2 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051012_1 051312_0 051412_0 051412_1 051512_0 051512_1 051712_0 051812_0 051812_1 051812_2 051912_0 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052212_0 052312_0 052312_1 052312_2 052312_5 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052412_4 052412_5 052512_0 052512_1 052612_0 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 052912_1 053012_0 053012_2 053112_0 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060112_4 060212_0 060212_1 060212_2 060212_3 060212_4 060212_5 060312_0 060312_1 060312_4 060412_0 060412_3 060512_0 060612_0 060612_1 060812_1 060912_0 060912_1 061012_0 061012_1 061012_2 061112_0 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061512_0 061612_0 061612_2 061612_3 061612_4 061712_0 061712_1 061812_1 061812_3 061912_0 061912_2 062012_0 062012_1 062012_2 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062212_5 062212_6 062212_7 062312_0 062312_1 062512_2 062612_1 062612_5 062712_0 062712_1 062712_3 062712_4 062812_0 062812_1 062812_3 062912_0 062912_1 063012_0 063012_2 063012_3 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070212_4 070312_2 070312_3 070412_1 070412_2 070412_3 070412_4 070412_6 070512_0 070512_1 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 071012_0 071112_0 071212_1 071212_2 071312_0 071312_3 071412_1 071512_4 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071712_1 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071912_0 072012_0 072012_1 072012_2 072012_3 072012_4 072112_2 072112_3 072112_4 072112_5 072112_6 072112_7 072112_8 072212_1 072212_2 072212_4 072212_5 072312_0 072312_1 072312_3 072312_5 072312_6 072412_0 072412_2 072412_4 072412_5 072512_0 072612_0 072712_3 072812_0 072912_2 072912_3 072912_4 072912_6 073012_1 073012_3 073012_5 073012_6 073012_7 073012_9 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 073112_5 080112_0 080112_2 080112_3 080112_4 080112_5 080112_6 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080212_3 080312_0 080412_0 080512_0 080512_2 080512_3 080612_0 080612_2 080612_4 080712_0 080712_2 080712_3 080712_5 080712_6 080812_1 080812_4 080812_5 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 080912_4 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081412_1 081412_3 081512_0 081512_2 081612_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_1 082012_3 082012_4 082012_6 082112_2 082212_0 082212_1 082212_3 082312_2 082412_0 082412_1 082412_4 082512_2 082712_0 082712_3 082712_4 082812_0 082912_1 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090212_0 090212_2 090312_0 090412_0 090612_0 090612_1 090712_0 091012_0 091012_1 091212_0 091212_1 091312_0 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 091612_0 091612_1 091612_2 091612_5 091712_0 091712_1 091712_2 091712_5 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_2 092212_0 092212_1 092212_2 092212_3 092312_0 092312_1 092512_0 092512_1 092612_0 092712_0 092812_0 101012_0 101912_0 102012_0 110112_0 110212_0 110312_0 110412_0 110512_0 110712_0 110812_0 110812_1 110912_0 110912_1 111012_0 111412_0 111912_0 112112_0 112212_0 112312_0 112312_2 112612_0 112712_0 112712_1 121212_0 121512_0 122512_0 122812_0 122812_1 122912_0 123012_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.