Dallas one of five areas to see flash flooding that has been an historically rare event
Dallas is one of five areas in the U.S. in as many weeks to experience historic flooding that is considered extremely unlikely, according to AccuWeather.
Some parts of Dallas received us much as 16 inches of rain on Aug. 22 in flooding that claimed lives and caused extensive property damage. AccuWeather predicts the economic impact of the flood damage to be between $4.5 billion and $6 billion.
The flooding came after North Texas faced a 67-day streak of days without measurable rain, one of the longest dry spells since recording of such data began, according to the National Weather Service.
And Dallas wasn’t the only place to see flooding. In Mesquite, flash flooding took the life of a 60-year-old woman on her way home from work. And in Fort Worth, streets flooded like in the West 7th entertainment district.
The sudden shift in weather, uncommon even for Texas, could become more common due to climate change, University of Oklahoma researcher Allen Li told AccuWeather.
Li said a flooding event similar to the recent ones in the U.S. historically has had a 0.1% chance of occurring in any single year. But he predicts it could happen multiple times over the next 1,000 years in any given area.
The other areas that experienced unusual flooding were St. Louis, eastern Kentucky, southeastern Illinois, Death Valley, according to AccuWeather. But precipitation numbers haven’t seen any major change.
That’s because the rain, instead of coming throughout the year, seems to be coming all at once now, according to AccuWeather. The weather outlet predicts that climate change will lead to more years where the amount of precipitation doesn’t change, but that it will come in fewer storms that will be more severe.