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Intense rainfall events rising even as overall U.S. precipitation declines

New analysis from AccuWeather finds annual precipitation in the U.S. has slightly declined overall, but events are more intense during the growing season.

Senior meteorologist Paul Pastelok tells Brownfield the long-term drought in the Southwest has made a big impact on totals.

“It’s down 2.7 percent, the trend since 1995,” he says.

Pastelok says when the rain does come, there can be a lot.

“Anything from three inches or greater has gone up 35 percent over that time frame , and two inches on a single-day event is up 24 percent, so that’s pretty significant,” he highlights.

He says the heaviest storms are usually between April and June, pointing to Iowa this spring as an example.

“In Des Moines, May 19th, 20th, they received five inches of rainfall in one event for the whole month, they only got 5.37,” he says.

But he says getting the rain has been beneficial for farmers in the long run.

“This drought would have been twice as bad, and we were still forecasting record levels for corn,” he says.

Pastelok says more precipitation is still needed to help rebuild soil moisture levels for most of the Midwest, which isn’t likely until later in the winter season.