5 Reasons Why Vermont Flooding Was So Catastrophic (July 2023)

The Vermont and Northeast Flood event was extremely catastrophic because of five reasons. Flooding in July 2023 rivaled that of Hurricane Irene in 2011. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:23 Rainfall Amounts From Northeast Flooding 00:56 Reason 1: Anomalous Atmospheric Moisture 01:47 Reason 2: Favorable Upper Level Pattern (Atlantic Moisture Flow) 02:23 Reason 3: Surface Cold Front (Training Thunderstorms) 03:24 Reason 4: Mountainous Terrain 04:16 Reason 5: Saturated Ground Before Major Flooding 05:35 Impacts Enhanced By Climate Change The 5 reasons this flooding was so bad was 1. Anomalously high precipitable water (moisture in atmosphere) for this time of year. 2.Upper level pattern helped drag rich tropical moisture in from the Atlantic Ocean. Pattern was also blocked allowing moisture to continuously flow into New England. 3. A cold front sparked thunderstorms and with help from southerly winds a loft, allowed storms to train, going over the same areas that already picked up heavy rain. 4.The mountainous terrain of New England allowed for the rain to runoff and collect in lower elevations 5.The ground was already saturated prior to the flood event. This promoted the water to runoff rather than be absorbed by the ground. Climate change didn't cause this event, but it enhanced it. This weather setup would have created thunderstorms regardless, but a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture. The added moisture available for the thunderstorms is a direct result of climate change. There may have been flooding without climate change in this setup, but climate change made this flood event catastrophic. Events like these will become more common due to climate change. Video from: henrysweatherchannel, Vermont Agency Of Agriculture, Food and Markets. Both via Storyful. Subscribe to ‪@just_weather‬