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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).

   
010512_0 010612_0 010612_2 010612_4 010712_0 010712_1 010812_0 010912_1 010912_2 012412_0 012712_0 012812_0 012812_1 012912_0 012912_1 020112_0 020212_0 020612_0 020612_1 020712_0 021412_0 022312_0 031512_0 031912_0 031912_1 032012_0 032012_1 033112_0 040412_0 040712_0 040912_0 041012_0 041112_0 041212_0 042112_0 042212_0 042412_0 042512_1 042512_2 042612_0 042812_0 043012_0 050512_0 050712_0 050712_1 050912_0 050912_1 051012_1 051112_0 051312_0 051512_0 051612_0 051612_1 052312_0 052312_1 052412_0 052512_1 052612_1 052712_0 052712_1 052712_2 052712_3 052812_0 052812_2 052912_0 053012_0 053012_1 053112_1 060112_0 060212_1 060312_1 060312_2 060412_0 060512_0 060512_1 060612_1 060612_2 060712_0 060712_2 060712_3 060812_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_1 061212_0 061212_1 061212_2 061312_0 061312_1 061412_0 061412_1 061812_0 061812_1 061912_0 061912_1 061912_2 062012_0 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062212_0 062312_0 062312_1 062412_0 062512_0 062512_1 062612_0 062712_0 062712_1 062712_2 062712_3 062812_0 062912_0 062912_1 063012_0 063012_2 070312_0 070312_1 070412_0 070412_1 070612_0 070612_1 070712_0 070712_2 070712_3 070712_4 070812_0 070812_2 070812_3 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_3 071012_0 071012_1 071112_0 071212_0 071212_2 071312_0 071412_0 071612_0 071612_1 071612_2 071712_0 071712_1 071712_2 071812_0 071812_1 071812_2 071912_0 071912_2 072012_0 072012_1 072212_1 072312_0 072312_1 072312_2 072312_6 072412_0 072412_3 072412_4 072412_5 072512_0 072512_1 072512_2 072512_3 072612_0 072612_1 072712_0 072712_2 072712_3 072812_0 072812_1 072812_2 072812_3 072812_4 072912_1 072912_2 072912_3 072912_4 073112_0 080312_1 080312_2 080412_1 080412_2 080412_3 080512_0 080612_0 080612_1 080612_3 080612_4 080712_0 080712_2 080812_0 080812_1 080912_1 080912_2 080912_3 081012_0 081012_1 081012_4 081112_1 081112_2 081112_3 081112_5 081112_6 081212_1 081212_3 081212_4 081212_5 081212_6 081312_0 081512_1 081512_2 081512_3 081612_1 081612_3 081712_0 081712_1 081812_0 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082112_0 082112_1 082112_2 082212_0 082212_2 082312_0 082312_1 082412_0 082412_1 082412_2 082412_3 082512_0 082512_2 082612_0 082712_0 082812_1 082812_2 082912_0 083012_0 083112_2 090112_0 090112_1 090112_3 090212_0 090212_1 090212_3 090212_4 090212_5 090312_0 090412_0 090412_1 090512_0 090612_0 090712_0 090712_1 090712_2 090712_3 090812_0 090812_3 090912_0 090912_1 090912_2 091012_0 091012_2 091012_3 091112_0 091112_1 091112_2 091212_0 091312_1 091312_2 091312_3 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091512_1 092312_0 092312_1 092412_0 092412_1 092512_0 092612_0 092712_0 092712_1 092812_0 092812_1 092912_0 100212_0 100612_0 100612_1 100712_0 100812_0 101112_1 101212_0 101212_1 101212_2 101312_0 101412_0 102312_0 102412_0 102612_0 110512_0 110612_0 110712_0 111212_0 111312_1 111412_0 111512_0 112612_0 112712_0 112812_0 112912_0 121112_1 121212_0 121712_0 121812_0 121912_1 122312_0 122312_1 122612_0 122612_1 122712_0 122912_0 122912_1 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.