April Showers Are Intensifying as Climate Change Continues to Amplify Extreme Weather

Dark clouds bring rain.

One increasingly hot topic at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference is connecting extreme weather and climate change, which also served as a panel topic. Team Silverline is fortunate to have its own meteorologist, account manager, and climate expert Brad Carl, who shares his expertise on recent extreme weather.

A “1000-year flood”

This month we witnessed a “1000-year flood” overtake Fort Lauderdale, Florida with 88 billion gallons of water falling in one day. As cited in The Washington Post’s coverage of the event, that rainfall is equivalent to the drinking water consumed by the entire U.S. population in nearly 1.5 years! If that doesn’t put things into perspective, does 13,600 Statues of Liberty filled with water do the trick?

As a former meteorologist and on-air talent in multiple markets, I’ve seen my fair share of impactful weather events. The term "1000-year flood" is a way to describe a flood event that has a 1 in 1000 chance of occurring in any given year. In other words, a 1000-year flood is an extremely rare and severe flood event that has a 0.1% chance of happening in any given year. With extreme weather events happening with more frequency than before, we can expect to see more flooding events like these – and we should be thinking about how we can be more resilient in the face of them.

Why the next “1000-year flood” will be coming sooner

As the Earth's temperature rises due to greenhouse gas emissions, the atmosphere can hold more moisture, leading to increased atmospheric water vapor. This can result in more frequent and intense precipitation events, including heavy rain downpours. In addition, warmer temperatures can cause more evaporation from land and water surfaces, leading to more moisture in the atmosphere and potentially more intense rainstorms.

And we certainly kicked off 2023 on a warm and wet note. According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. began 2023 with the sixth warmest and the third wettest January on record. As I’ve written about before, warmer temperatures during the cooler months can open up more opportunities for severe storms to setup across the country – though there are certainly other weather extremes to contend with.

Years of drought and flash floods

As we’ve seen plenty of media coverage of this past winter, California has been feeling the effects of increasingly extreme weather – particularly with heavy rainfall. The state has experienced a series of high impact events, including a record number of atmospheric rivers – essentially rivers in the sky that transport water vapor from the moist tropics – which resulted in unparalleled amounts of rain and snowfall across California. Keep in mind that California already was suffering from decades long drought. And while receiving copious amounts of rainfall at once has been helpful to partially relieve drought conditions, like a dried out sponge trying to soak up a lot of water, the soil doesn’t absorb very much of the rainfall at first and a great deal of it becomes ample runoff for flooding.

Research has shown that climate change is causing a shift in precipitation patterns, with more intense rain events occurring in several regions. According to a study published by NASA's Global Climate Change website, the Earth's water cycle has intensified due to human-caused climate change, leading to more intense and frequent extreme precipitation events. This is primarily due to an increase in atmospheric water vapor content, which has been observed globally.

In addition to increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events, climate change also can affect the timing and duration of precipitation. For example, in some regions, climate change is causing more prolonged periods of drought followed by heavy rain events, which can lead to flash floods and other types of water-related disasters.

It’s time to build more resilience 

The impacts of extreme rainfall events can be devastating, including flooding, landslides, and damage to infrastructure, homes, and businesses. These events also can lead to waterborne diseases, as well as agricultural and economic losses.

These expensive and frequent extreme weather events highlight the urgent need to reduce emissions and embrace climate innovations as quickly as possible while also factoring more resiliency into our communities. Together, we have the power to implement the solutions needed to tackle the climate challenge at the scale required – it’s purely a matter of will. And as we can see weather extremes are playing out now, there’s certainly a need for solutions now – and we can’t afford to wait.