Sept. 9: A taste of climate change

Climate change is bringing more extreme weather, and this summer provided a taste of it.

The National Climatic Data Center’s formula for analyzing extreme weather concluded that this summer rated about one and a half times the historical average for summer weather. The formula looks at such things as rainfall, drought and record or near-record temperatures.

Nationwide, it was the fourth warmest summer on record, according to a federal climate report issued Wednesday. The data analysis goes back to 1895.

This summer’s hallmarks of extreme weather were unusually warm nighttime temperatures and abnormally heavy rainfalls. The Midlands got a taste of both, which contributed to the lush landscape, but also flooding and stress on some plants. For the lower 48 states, the warm weather pushed energy demand to the highest level in 116 years of record-keeping. That’s because summer was unusually warm in the highly populated mid-Atlantic and southeast states.

The Northern Plains and Upper Midwest have been the focal point for abundant moisture so far this year. Wisconsin had its wettest summer on record, Michigan and Iowa, their third wettest and Nebraska and Illinois, their sixth wettest.

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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