With three extreme rainfall events happening in less than a week, we take a deeper dive into what triggers these extreme events during the summer months. Seventy-five percent of flash floods occur between mid-April and mid-September.

Meteorologist Jennifer Gray reports that three extreme flash flooding events have occurred within a week, affecting Texas, North Carolina, and New Mexico. While such a cluster of events is rare, Gray notes that 75% of flash flood reports happen between mid-April and mid-September, with July being a peak period.

Key factors contributing to summer flash flooding include increased atmospheric moisture, especially east of the Rockies, and a weaker jet stream that allows storms to linger over one area. Hurricanes and tropical systems can also bring intense rainfall, as seen with recent storms. Gray advises staying alert to flood warnings, especially during the summer months.

Why summer months are more prone to flash flooding

Hi everybody, I'm meteorologist Jennifer Gray and we have had three extreme flooding events all within a week's time. We had the deadly flooding in Texas, we had the flash flooding from Chantal, North Carolina, and we've also had flash flooding in New Mexico. And while all three of these happening in one week is extremely rare, it does bring up some questions and it's definitely a conversation starter about when we typically see flash flooding and what all goes into making these storms so powerful. So 75% of the reports for flash flooding come between mid-April and mid-September, with July right in the heart of that. Now several things are going to go into effect when you're talking about these summer storms just creating just unbelievable amounts of rain. For one, we have a lot of moisture, especially east of the Rockies in the summer months, so that means anything that's going to trigger storms, whether it's a low area of low pressure or anything, is going to have the moisture available to create very heavy downpours. We also have a weaker than normal jet stream in the summer months and so that means anything that does develop or come on shore, a lot of times it can just get stuck because it won't have anything to push it out. And so that we see these very slow-moving systems in the summer months, so when you have the hot temperatures from the summer combined with the increase in moisture and then on top of that nothing to really push it out quickly, you're going to get not only heavy downpours but for a long period of time and that's what we've seen lately with a lot of these storms. They just sit in one place for an extended period and cause extensive flash flooding. Also you can't forget hurricanes. It plays a huge role in flash flooding in the summer months. We saw that with Chantal. It wasn't even a hurricane and it created incredible amounts of water in a short amount of time in North Carolina and portions of Virginia. Also I don't want to say Barry is to blame for what happened in Texas but there was some lingering moisture from Barry that helped contribute along with other factors that led to that flooding in Texas. So a little bit of a tropical print on that as well but those are the main things we look for when we're talking about flash flooding and and what can help aid in these flash flooding events. So most important thing you can do is make sure you have alerts. If you know that your areas won't experience flash flooding, make sure you have a way to get those flood watches, warnings, emergencies, anything that may come along. You guys have a good day. Stay safe.

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