Portions of Eastern Kentucky experienced massive flooding this past week, believed to be the worst flood in Kentucky’s recorded history. “Kentucky’s climate is getting notably warmer and wetter,” said Kentucky’s state climatologist Megan Schargorodski in an email.
All that moisture has to go somewhere eventually.
“For every Fahrenheit degree the atmosphere warms, it can hold approximately 4% more moisture,” said Peter Girard, director of communications at the nonprofit news organization Climate Central. “What goes up must come down.”
Abnormally high amounts of moisture in the air can contribute to a faster onset of flooding, added Climate Central meteorologist Lauren Casey.
In Hazard, one of the towns hit hard in Eastern Kentucky, rainfall intensity has increased about 17% over the past 50 years, according to data from Climate Central.
Extreme heat is another factor likely to worsen in Kentucky.
Heat has proven deadly across the U.S. this summer, on track to be the hottest on record, even after last summer saw broken records in some parts of the country.
Louisville’s urban heat island effect, which can cause parts of the city to be 10 degrees warmer than neighboring rural areas, has been studied as one of the fastest growing in the country.
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2022/07/29/as-floods-hit-eastern-kentucky-what-else-will-climate-change-bring/65385683007/