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Category 4 landfalling hurricane Harvey poured more than a metre of rainfall across the heavily populated Houston area, leading to unprecedented flooding and damage. Although studies have focused on the contribution of anthropogenic climate change to this extreme rainfall event.sup.1-3, limited attention has been paid to the potential effects of urbanization on the hydrometeorology associated with hurricane Harvey. Here we find that urbanization exacerbated not only the flood response but also the storm total rainfall. Using the Weather Research and Forecast model--a numerical model for simulating weather and climate at regional scales--and statistical models, we quantify the contribution of urbanization to rainfall and flooding. Overall, we find that the probability of such extreme flood events across the studied basins increased on average by about 21 times in the period 25-30 August 2017 because of urbanization. The effect of urbanization on storm-induced extreme precipitation and flooding should be more explicitly included in global climate models, and this study highlights its importance when assessing the future risk of such extreme events in highly urbanized coastal areas.Modelling the contribution of urbanization to the impacts associated with hurricane Harvey in August 2017 shows that urbanization worsens rainfall and flooding., Author(s): Wei Zhang [sup.1] , Gabriele Villarini [sup.1] , Gabriel A. Vecchi [sup.2] [sup.3] , James A. Smith [sup.4] Author Affiliations:(1) IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, [...]

Author(s): Mahyar Mohtadi (corresponding author) [1]; Matthias Prange [1]; Stephan Steinke [1] Monsoons are the dominant seasonal mode of climate variability in the tropics and are critically important conveyors of [...]

Author(s): Jian Wang (corresponding author) [1]; Radovan Krejci [2]; Scott Giangrande [1]; Chongai Kuang [1]; Henrique M. J. Barbosa [3]; Joel Brito [3]; Samara Carbone [3]; Xuguang Chi [4, 5]; [...]

How Nature reported Australian flooding in 1919, and the conservation of patches of grass in 1969. Severe rainfall and roadside verges., Author Affiliations: From the archive 50 Years Ago Conservationists, farmers and highway managers met in London on March 14 to discuss the function and management of road verges ... all [...]

As temperatures rise, heavy rainfall during storms becomes even heavier, whereas lighter bursts grow less intense. This could bring storms that are more unpredictable and destructive as the climate warms. [...]

More rain than snow is likely to fall in the Arctic by the end of the century, owing to global warming. At present, rain accounts for about 35% of Arctic [...]

The volume of rain produced by individual storms is projected to rise in the coming years thanks to global warming. Rainfall is expected to become more intense in a warming [...]

As the climate warms, tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere may have a greater effect than greenhouse gases on increasing the frequency of extreme rain and snowfall. Greenhouse gases and [...]