U.S. Daily and Multi-Day Precipitation Extremes 1979-2023

Station-based observations from 1979 to 2023 analyze single-day, 3-day, and 5-day precipitation extremes across nine U.S. climate regions. The study by Sheila Pournasiri Eero examines event structure, seasonality, and trends to characterize precipitation persistence and intensity. It provides a regionally nuanced perspective on extreme precipitation dynamics for flood risk assessment.

Use Cases

• Compare maximum 1-day precipitation values against 3-day and 5-day accumulations to assess the contribution of peak intensity to multi-day events.
• Analyze seasonal timing patterns of precipitation extremes across the nine NCEI climate regions for climate adaptation planning.
• Identify temporal co-occurrence of maximum 1-day and multi-day peaks to understand event structure and storm regimes.
• Examine trend patterns in event-based wet-spell accumulations from 1979 to 2023 for long-term climate variability studies.

Strengths

• 45-year temporal coverage from 1979 to 2023 provides a long-term climate perspective.
• Analysis spans nine distinct National Centers for Environmental Information climate regions across the contiguous United States.
• Compares three specific precipitation indicator categories: daily maxima, 3-day/5-day accumulations, and event-based wet-spells.

Limitations

• The dataset is described in a 854.0 KB PDF file, indicating limited raw data availability for direct computational analysis.
• Specific row counts, column names, and station-level data are not provided, restricting detailed statistical modeling.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the contiguous United States, excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories.

Provenance

Source

Station-based observations, likely from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Analysis of precipitation indicators from observational station data.

Time Range

1979 to 2023

Freshness

Data covers up to 2023, with the study last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Contiguous United States, divided into nine NCEI climate regions.