He. Brooks et Dj. Stensrud, Climatology of heavy rain events in the United States from hourly precipitation observations, M WEATH REV, 128(4), 2000, pp. 1194-1201
Flash flooding is frequently associated with heavy precipitation (defined h
ere as greater than or equal to 1 in. h(-l)) occurring over a short period
of time. To begin a study of flash hood-producing rain events, the Hourly P
recipitation Dataset (HPD) is used to develop a climatology of heavy rains
on timescales of 3 h or less across the contiguous United States. Analyses
of this dataset show a distinct seasonal cycle in the distribution of heavy
rain events that begins along the Gulf Coast and expands into the midweste
rn states during the summer. This general evolution is very similar to that
observed for hash floods, suggesting that the HPD can help in defining the
climatological threat for flash floods.