A new study by scientists at Boulder's National Center for Atmospheric Research indicates that at the end of this century, the number of summer storms producing extreme downpours could increase by more than 400 percent across parts of the United States - including sections of the Southwest, the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Coast.
The study, published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, also finds that the intensity of individual extreme rainfall events could increase by as much as 70 percent in some areas. According to a news release, that would mean a storm dropping about 2 inches of rain today would be likely to deliver nearly 3.5 inches in the future.
"These are huge increases," NCAR scientist Andreas Prein, lead author of the study, said in the news release. "Imagine the most intense thunderstorm you typically experience in a single season. Our study finds that, in the future, parts of the U.S. could expect to experience five of those storms in a season, each with an intensity as strong or stronger than current storms."
The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor, as well as the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America.