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Study: Intense rainstorms up dramatically since 1960, impacting U.S. agriculture

A senior meteorologist with AccuWeather says a new study shows U.S. farmers are facing more extreme rainfalls than in years past.

Brett Anderson says 60 years of data shows it’s not raining more, but the number of heavy downpours and intense events has increased significantly.

“The days with over 4 inches of rainfall have actually increased by about 70% since 1960.”  He says, “Also, the number of hours per year with over an inch of rain have nearly tripled since 1985.”

He tells Brownfield it’s led to increased agricultural impacts from flash flooding.

“We’re going to see flooded fields, so crop delays is a big one.”  He says, “Of course, lower yields and topsoil being washed away. But insurance losses continue to be a big issue as well.”

Anderson says the study supports other research showing the Earth’s warming atmosphere is holding more moisture than in the past.

“Since the late 1800s or so, we’ve warned about 2° Fahrenheit, so compared to back then, we have about 8% more available water vapor in the upper atmosphere to be rained out very quickly,” he says.

He says global temperatures continue to increase.

“It’s not good news. We don’t see any change in this trend.” He says, “We think things are just going to continue to get worse.”

Anderson says the study shows rainfall intensification is consistent across the country.

AUDIO: Brett Anderson – AccuWeather