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Climate change is supercharging the water cycle, bringing heavier precipitation extremes — and related flood risks — across the U.S.
As the climate has warmed from 1958 to 2021, the most extreme precipitation days have intensified in every major U.S. region, led by the Northeast (+60%) and Midwest (+45%).
This hazardous intensification is expected to continue with future warming.
High future levels of extreme precipitation intensification are concentrated in: Alaska, Hawaii, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Maine, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
People, ecosystems, and infrastructure in both wet and dry locations are facing the risks that come with short bursts of extreme rainfall.
Climate change is bringing heavier rainfall extremes and increased, inequitable flood risk to many parts of the U.S.
For every 1°F of warming the air can hold an extra 4% of moisture, increasing the chances of heavier downpours that contribute to the risk of flash floods.
Heavy downpours bring more rain, faster — causing flash flooding and landslides that can displace families, drown crops, damage infrastructure, and expose people to hazardous debris, contaminants, and water-borne disease.
In the U.S., extreme daily rainfall has become more frequent since the 1980s. Hourly rainfall intensity has also increased since 1970 — by 13% on average across 150 U.S. locations analyzed by Climate Central.
As the climate has warmed over recent decades, the most extreme precipitation days have become more intense across the U.S.
As precipitation extremes intensify, the wettest days each year bring increasing flood hazards. And this intensification trend has been widespread.
In the Northeast and Midwest, the amount of precipitation falling on the heaviest 1% of days has increased 60% and 45%, respectively, from 1958 to 2021 according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
The heaviest rainfall events have become wetter across all other major regions of the continental U.S. from 1958 to 2021 as well, led by: the Southeast (+37%); the Northern Rockies and Plains (+24%); and the South (+21%).
Bottom line: we are already experiencing the extreme negative events resulting from global warming/climate change, and it is predicted to only get worse.
As the climate has warmed from 1958 to 2021, the most extreme precipitation days have intensified in every major U.S. region, led by the Northeast (+60%) and Midwest (+45%).
This hazardous intensification is expected to continue with future warming.
High future levels of extreme precipitation intensification are concentrated in: Alaska, Hawaii, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Maine, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
People, ecosystems, and infrastructure in both wet and dry locations are facing the risks that come with short bursts of extreme rainfall.
Climate change is bringing heavier rainfall extremes and increased, inequitable flood risk to many parts of the U.S.
For every 1°F of warming the air can hold an extra 4% of moisture, increasing the chances of heavier downpours that contribute to the risk of flash floods.
Heavy downpours bring more rain, faster — causing flash flooding and landslides that can displace families, drown crops, damage infrastructure, and expose people to hazardous debris, contaminants, and water-borne disease.
In the U.S., extreme daily rainfall has become more frequent since the 1980s. Hourly rainfall intensity has also increased since 1970 — by 13% on average across 150 U.S. locations analyzed by Climate Central.
As the climate has warmed over recent decades, the most extreme precipitation days have become more intense across the U.S.
As precipitation extremes intensify, the wettest days each year bring increasing flood hazards. And this intensification trend has been widespread.
In the Northeast and Midwest, the amount of precipitation falling on the heaviest 1% of days has increased 60% and 45%, respectively, from 1958 to 2021 according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
The heaviest rainfall events have become wetter across all other major regions of the continental U.S. from 1958 to 2021 as well, led by: the Southeast (+37%); the Northern Rockies and Plains (+24%); and the South (+21%).
Extreme Precipitation in a Warming Climate | Climate Central
Climate change is supercharging the water cycle, bringing heavier precipitation extremes across the U.S.
Bottom line: we are already experiencing the extreme negative events resulting from global warming/climate change, and it is predicted to only get worse.