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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: 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).

   
011212_0 011412_0 011412_1 011512_0 011512_2 011712_0 011912_0 012312_0 012412_0 012512_0 020312_0 020412_0 020512_0 020612_0 020712_0 020812_0 021312_0 022012_0 022112_0 022212_0 030212_0 030212_1 030312_1 030412_0 031512_0 031612_1 031712_0 031712_1 031812_0 032412_0 040112_0 040312_0 040412_0 040512_0 040612_0 040812_0 041012_0 041012_1 041112_0 041212_0 041212_1 041312_0 041612_0 041612_1 041612_2 041712_0 041812_0 042612_1 042712_1 042712_2 042712_3 042712_4 042712_5 042812_0 042812_1 042912_0 050212_1 050212_2 050312_0 050412_0 050512_0 050512_1 050712_0 050712_1 050812_0 050912_0 050912_1 051012_0 051112_0 051312_1 051712_0 051812_0 052012_0 052112_0 052112_1 052112_2 052212_0 052412_0 052412_1 052412_2 052512_0 052512_1 052612_0 052612_1 052712_0 052812_1 053012_0 053012_1 053112_1 053112_3 060112_0 060112_1 060112_2 060112_3 060212_2 060212_4 060312_0 060412_1 060512_0 060712_0 060912_0 060912_1 060912_2 061012_3 061112_0 061212_0 061212_1 061312_0 061412_0 061512_0 061612_0 061612_1 061712_1 061812_0 061912_1 061912_2 062012_1 062112_0 062112_1 062112_3 062112_4 062212_0 062212_1 062212_2 062212_3 062312_0 062312_1 062312_2 062512_1 062512_2 062512_3 062612_1 062712_3 062712_4 062812_0 062812_1 062812_3 062912_0 063012_0 070112_0 070112_2 070212_0 070212_1 070312_0 070312_1 070312_3 070412_0 070412_1 070512_2 070612_0 070712_0 070812_0 070812_1 070812_2 070912_0 070912_1 070912_2 070912_4 071012_1 071012_2 071112_0 071112_2 071112_3 071212_0 071212_1 071312_0 071512_0 071612_0 071612_1 071712_1 071712_2 071812_1 071812_2 071812_3 071912_0 072112_0 072212_0 072212_1 072312_0 072312_1 072412_0 072412_1 072412_2 072512_0 072512_1 072612_0 072712_0 072712_1 072712_2 072812_0 072812_1 073012_1 073012_2 073012_3 073112_0 073112_1 073112_2 073112_3 080112_0 080112_1 080212_1 080312_1 080412_0 080512_0 080512_1 080612_0 080712_0 080812_0 080812_1 080912_0 080912_1 081012_0 081012_1 081112_1 081112_2 081212_0 081212_1 081212_2 081312_0 081312_1 081412_0 081412_1 081512_1 081512_3 081612_0 081612_1 081612_2 081712_1 081812_0 081812_1 081912_0 081912_1 081912_2 082012_0 082012_1 082012_3 082112_0 082112_1 082212_0 082212_1 082212_2 082312_0 082312_1 082312_2 082412_1 082712_0 082812_0 082812_1 082912_0 082912_1 083012_1 083112_0 083112_1 090212_0 090312_0 090412_0 090512_0 090612_0 090612_1 090712_0 090712_1 091012_0 091212_0 091312_0 091412_0 091412_1 091512_0 091712_0 091712_2 091712_3 091812_0 091812_1 091812_2 091812_3 091812_4 091912_0 091912_1 092112_0 092312_0 092412_0 092512_1 092612_1 092712_0 092812_0 092912_0 100112_0 100712_0 101012_0 101112_0 101912_1 102012_0 102112_0 103112_0 110212_0 110312_0 110312_1 110412_0 110512_0 110512_1 110712_0 110812_0 110812_2 110912_1 110912_3 111012_0 111112_0 111812_0 111912_0 112212_0 112312_0 112312_1 112412_0 112712_0 112812_0 122812_0 122912_0 122912_1 123012_0 123012_1 123012_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.