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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).

   
010912_0 011012_0 011312_0 011312_1 012712_0 012712_1 013112_0 021112_0 022312_0 032112_0 040912_0 040912_1 041112_0 041612_0 041712_0 041812_0 041812_1 041912_0 042812_0 050212_0 050312_0 050512_0 050612_0 050812_0 050912_0 051012_0 051112_0 051712_0 051812_0 051812_1 051912_0 051912_1 051912_2 052012_0 052012_1 052012_2 052012_3 052012_4 052112_0 052112_1 052312_0 052412_0 052512_0 052512_1 052512_2 052612_0 052612_2 052612_3 052712_0 052712_1 052812_0 052812_1 052912_0 052912_1 052912_2 052912_4 053012_0 053012_1 053012_2 053012_3 053112_0 053112_1 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060312_0 060312_1 060412_0 060412_1 060512_0 060612_0 060612_1 060712_0 060712_1 060812_0 060812_2 060812_3 060812_4 061212_0 061312_0 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061512_0 061512_1 061612_0 061612_1 061712_0 061712_1 061812_1 061812_2 061912_0 061912_1 062012_1 062012_2 062112_0 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062312_3 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 070112_0 070112_1 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070212_2 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070512_3 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070712_3 070812_1 070812_2 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 070912_4 070912_5 070912_6 070912_7 071012_0 071112_0 071112_1 071112_2 071112_3 071112_4 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071312_2 071312_3 071512_1 071512_2 071612_0 071612_2 071712_0 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071812_5 071912_0 071912_1 071912_2 072012_1 072012_2 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072112_3 072212_0 072312_0 072412_0 072412_1 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072612_0 072612_1 072612_2 072612_3 072712_1 072712_2 072712_3 072912_0 073012_0 073112_0 080112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080212_0 080212_1 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080312_3 080412_0 080412_1 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080612_1 080612_2 080712_0 080712_1 080712_2 080812_0 080812_1 080812_2 080812_3 080912_0 080912_1 080912_2 081012_0 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081312_2 081312_3 081312_5 081412_0 081412_1 081512_0 081512_1 081512_2 081612_0 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082612_0 082612_1 082612_2 082612_3 082712_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 082912_2 083012_0 083012_2 083112_0 083112_1 083112_2 090112_0 090112_1 090112_2 090212_0 090212_1 090212_2 090312_0 090312_1 090312_2 090312_3 090312_5 090812_0 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 090912_3 091012_0 091012_1 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091212_1 091212_2 091212_3 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 091512_2 091512_3 091612_0 091612_1 091712_0 091812_0 091912_0 091912_1 091912_2 091912_3 092012_0 092012_1 092012_2 092012_3 092112_0 092112_1 092112_2 092112_3 092412_0 092712_0 092812_0 092912_0 092912_3 093012_0 100312_0 100412_0 100412_1 100412_2 100512_0 100512_1 100512_2 100612_0 100612_1 100612_2 101012_0 101112_0 101212_0 101212_1 101312_0 101412_0 101412_1 102612_0 102712_0 102912_0 103112_0 103112_1 103112_2 110112_0 111812_0 112212_0 112312_0 112312_1 120212_0 120312_0 120912_0 121512_0 122212_0 122212_1 122312_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.