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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).

   
020212_0 020312_0 020312_1 020412_0 020512_0 021312_0 021412_0 021412_1 021512_0 021612_0 021812_0 022012_0 022112_0 030712_0 031612_0 031712_0 032412_0 032712_0 032812_0 033012_0 040212_0 040412_0 040412_1 040512_0 040612_0 040712_0 040712_1 042012_0 042112_0 042212_0 042412_0 042612_0 042612_1 042812_0 042812_1 042812_2 042812_3 042912_0 043012_0 050612_0 050612_1 050712_0 050712_1 051212_0 051212_1 051312_0 051312_1 051412_0 051512_0 051512_1 051612_0 051812_0 051912_0 051912_1 052012_0 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052612_0 052812_0 060212_1 060312_0 060312_1 060312_2 060312_3 060412_0 060412_1 060412_2 060412_3 060512_0 060612_0 060612_1 060612_4 060712_0 060812_0 060912_0 060912_1 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061312_1 061312_2 061412_0 061412_1 061412_2 061412_4 061412_5 061512_0 061512_1 061512_2 061612_0 061612_1 061612_2 061612_3 061712_0 061712_1 061812_0 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062112_0 062212_0 062312_0 062412_0 062412_1 062412_2 062512_0 062512_1 062512_2 062612_0 062612_1 062712_0 062712_1 062812_0 062812_1 062812_2 062912_0 062912_1 062912_2 063012_0 063012_1 063012_2 070112_0 070112_1 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070312_2 070412_0 070412_1 070412_2 070512_0 070512_1 070512_2 070612_0 070612_1 070612_2 070712_0 070712_1 070712_2 070812_0 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 071012_0 071112_0 071212_0 071312_0 071412_0 071512_0 071512_1 071512_2 071512_3 071512_4 071612_2 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071712_3 071812_0 072012_0 072012_1 072112_0 072112_1 072112_2 072212_0 072212_1 072312_0 072312_2 072412_0 072412_1 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072912_0 073012_0 073012_1 073012_2 073112_0 080112_1 080112_2 080112_3 080212_0 080212_1 080212_2 080312_0 080312_1 080312_2 080512_0 080612_0 080712_0 080812_0 080812_2 080812_3 080912_0 081012_0 081012_1 081012_2 081112_0 081112_1 081212_0 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081512_0 081712_1 081712_2 081712_3 081812_0 081812_1 081812_2 081912_1 081912_2 081912_3 081912_4 082012_0 082212_0 082312_0 082312_1 082512_1 082512_2 082612_0 082612_2 082712_1 082712_4 082812_0 082812_1 083012_0 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 090112_0 090112_2 090712_0 090712_1 090712_3 090912_0 091012_0 091012_1 091012_2 091212_1 091212_2 091312_0 091312_1 091312_2 091412_0 091412_1 091412_3 091512_0 091512_1 091712_0 091712_1 091712_2 091812_0 091812_1 091912_0 091912_1 092012_0 092112_1 092212_1 092212_2 092312_0 092312_1 092312_2 092312_3 092512_0 092612_1 092712_0 092712_1 092812_0 092912_0 092912_1 093012_0 100312_0 100512_0 100512_1 100712_0 100812_0 100812_1 101112_0 101112_1 101212_0 101212_1 101212_2 101212_3 101312_0 101312_1 101412_0 101412_1 101612_0 101612_1 101712_0 101912_0 102312_0 102512_0 102712_0 102712_1 111412_0 111512_0 111612_0 111912_0 112112_0 120912_0 121112_0 121212_0 121712_0 121912_0 122012_0 122212_0 122212_1 122512_0 122512_1 122512_2

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.