“And it has happened fast enough that people have a memory of it happening.” And now we’re really not,” Allegra LeGrande, a physical-research scientist at Columbia University, told me. “For a long time, we were within the range of normal. Early July brought the hottest day globally since records began-a milestone surpassed again the following day. Vermont saw a deluge of rain, its second 100-year storm in roughly a decade. The Southwest is sweltering under a heat dome. Its impacts, however, are accelerating-sometimes far faster than expected.įor a while, the consequences weren’t easily seen. For decades, climate change has proceeded at roughly the expected pace, says David Armstrong McKay, a climate scientist at the University of Exeter, in England. "Anecdotally speaking, we’ve seen that a lot in recent years, where the heaviest rains will be inland," Lanza said.Ever since some of the earliest projections of climate change were made back in the 1970s, they have been remarkably accurate at predicting the rate at which global temperatures would rise. Galveston, on the other hand, saw a decrease in annual rainfall - by about 3.5 inches. "It was a pretty substantial increase, and I think a lot of that is attributable to Harvey," Lanza said. August saw the biggest increase with average rainfall increasing by about an inch. In Houston, the average yearly rainfall increased by about 2 inches. The "new normals" also include rainfall data. And it's not just a one-day temperature, we’re looking at the whole climatology."Ī climate assessment previously commissioned by the city of Houston found that the area will continue to see hotter days and nights, longer heatwaves and heavier rainfall if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. "It's another arrow in the quiver to show that things are warming. "It’s tough to really argue that climate change is not playing a significant role in what’s happening here," Lanza said. NOAA scientists say that nationwide the "new normals" reflect the impact of climate change. The only exceptions were November and December, which showed a slight decrease in average temperatures. Houston's average monthly temperatures got warmer in both the winter and summer months, according to data taken at Bush Intercontinental Airport. "It puts perspective around what the weather is doing at any particular time of year, how uncommon or how common it is." "It’s helpful in the sense that it lets us set the tone for what should be happening in an idealized world," said Matt Lanza, a meteorologist and managing editor for Space City Weather. These "climate normals" are what meteorologists use when they talk about typical weather in a city. The previous normals were based on data from 1981-2010. The so-called "new climate normals" are based on rolling averages of temperature and precipitation from the past 30 years, with the latest update reflecting weather data from 1991-2020. It mirrors a general trend across the country as the planet warms.Įvery 10 years, NOAA updates what it considers "normal " weather across the country. Houston's weather has gotten hotter and wetter, according to the latest data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Don Geraci / Houston Public Media Downtown Houston can be seen over a flooded Buffalo Bayou after Tropical Depression Beta poured heavy rainfall on the area, Sept.
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