The rains aren’t over yet for the Eastern U.S.

June 27, 2019

Several factors have caused an exceptionally rainy May and June for the Midwestern and Eastern United States, and the rain isn’t likely to stop quite yet. Three natural climate shifts – El Niño, the Madden Julian Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation – are responsible for the damp weather, according to Earther.

El Niño and the Madden Julian Oscillation have strong influence on the jet stream, a current of air over the Pacific Ocean. This year they are pushing rainy conditions and severe weather across the Midwest.

The North Atlantic Oscillation consists of air pressure differences over Iceland and the Azores. When it is in a negative phase, it sends more storms across the eastern U.S. The NAO flipped negative in May and was the fourth biggest negative anomaly ever recorded, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Climate change has warmed oceans on the Gulf and Pacific coasts, providing plenty of evaporated water to fuel the storms.

All this rain has caused record-setting flooding. Five more inches of rain were forecasted for the Midwest this week.

The rains aren’t over yet for the Eastern U.S.

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