If it feels like we’re seeing a lot of flooding this summer, there’s a good reason why.
Through Wednesday, July 29, we’ve seen more flash flood warnings issued than any other year on record (stats on this only go back to 2008).
Between the Upton, New York, and Mount Holly, New Jersey, National Weather Service offices that cover most of the tri-state, there have been 117 flash flood warnings issued already this year.
Tuesday was a perfect example of that, with parts of New Jersey and New York seeing 6-8 inches of rain in 24 hours. Well more than the 4.5-5 inches of rain those towns average for the entire month of July.
The cause, of course, is climate change. A warmer planet means there is more moisture in the air. More moisture means heavier rain and more flash flooding.
In many cases, our infrastructure, like sewers and subways, was not built to withstand this amount of water in such a short window of time which makes the flooding even more prevalent.
August is another heavy rainfall month, second only to July, so there’s no reason to believe we have seen the last of flash flooding this season.
