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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: 2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026

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).

   
012712_0 020212_0 021312_0 021412_0 022112_0 022212_0 031612_0 031912_0 032012_0 032212_0 032312_1 032712_0 040712_0 040812_0 040812_1 040812_2 041012_0 041112_0 041512_0 041612_1 042412_0 042512_0 042912_0 043012_0 043012_1 043012_2 050112_0 050112_1 050412_0 050512_0 050512_1 050512_2 050612_0 050812_0 050812_1 051012_0 051012_1 051112_0 051212_0 051512_0 051512_1 051612_0 051612_1 051712_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052512_3 052512_4 052512_6 052612_0 052612_1 052612_2 052812_0 053112_0 060112_0 060212_0 060512_0 060612_0 060712_0 060812_0 061112_0 061112_1 061112_2 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061312_1 061512_0 061612_1 061612_2 061712_0 061712_1 061712_3 061712_4 061712_5 061712_6 061812_0 061812_1 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062012_2 062112_0 062112_1 062112_2 062112_3 062112_4 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062412_0 062412_1 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062612_1 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 062912_3 063012_0 070112_0 070212_0 070312_0 070312_1 070512_0 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070912_0 070912_1 070912_3 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071612_0 071612_1 071712_0 071912_0 072012_1 072012_2 072112_0 072112_2 072212_0 072412_0 072712_1 072812_0 072812_1 072912_0 073112_0 073112_1 080112_0 080212_0 080212_2 080312_0 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080612_1 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 080912_3 081012_0 081012_1 081112_0 081212_1 081212_2 081312_1 081612_0 081712_0 081812_0 081912_0 082012_0 082312_1 082912_1 082912_2 083012_0 083012_1 083012_2 083012_3 083012_4 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090312_0 090412_0 090612_0 090712_0 090812_0 090812_1 091012_1 091012_2 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091512_0 091512_1 091612_1 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 092012_0 092212_0 092312_0 092812_0 100712_0 100812_0 100912_0 100912_1 101012_0 101012_1 101212_0 110412_0 110412_1 110512_0 111312_1 111312_2 111312_3 111712_0 111812_0 121712_0 121812_0 122312_0 122512_0 122612_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.