Summer of flooding: This is the reason why the U.S. is getting record amounts of rainfall in 2025
Floods are more common in summer months, but this year has seen a 70 percent increase and scientists know exactly why that is.
It seems like just about every day you hear about another flood somewhere in the United States this summer. While this time of year they are more common due to atmospheric conditions, there has been a 70 percent increase in 2025 over the annual average.
Scientists and meteorologists know exactly why these extreme weather events are happening. “There is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme,” climate scientist Kate Marvel told CNN.
The science behind the summer of flooding
Hotter air can hold more moisture and when it gets hit by colder air it condenses into precipitation. This is why summer is generally the time of year when more flooding occurs.
However, this year has seen multiple downpours that would be expected to happen every 100 years to 1,000 years over the span of a matter of days across the United States. This has been due to unusually high levels of moisture in the atmosphere from the Rockies to the East Coast.
That moisture has been fed into the United States from evaporation off of warmer-than-normal waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic, being pushed deep inland by a stronger-than-usual Bermuda High. This is “a persistent area of high pressure near Bermuda that often influences summer conditions across the US,” explains AccuWeather.
Additionally, the chances of thunderstorms developing has been aided by a very active storm track coming out of Canada. The Tennessee Valley and parts of New England are some of the areas expected to be hit harder according to Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist and climate expert. They could see a 20 to 40 percent increase in extreme rainfall events.
UCLA climate researcher Daniel Swain told CNN that these extreme weather events with heavy rainfall over a short period, like what we’re seeing this summer, provide clear evidence of the influence of climate change.
“It is not average precipitation that really is most affected by climate change. It truly is mathematically correct that the more extreme the rain event, the clearer the connection to climate change is,” he said.
“As the climate continues to warm, the atmosphere holds more moisture, increasing the potential for extreme rainfall. Long-term weather records show a clear trend: flash flood events and intense rainfall rates have become more frequent in many parts of America over the past century,” Dan Depodwin, senior director of forecast operations at AccuWeather explained.
“Studies also show this trend is expected to continue through the rest of the century.”
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