Record rainfall strands at least 1,000 in Death Valley National Park
Typically dry Death Valley National Park was hit with a record amount of rain over the weekend, which triggered flash floods, stranding park employees and visitors as all roads were forced to close and vehicles were washed away. The inch and a half of rain that fell in the 3.4 million acre park this weekend represents about 75% of the park's typical total of 2 inches per year. The flood is the latest in a series of abnormally heavy rain events in the US. Over the week spanning the end of July and beginning of August, three 1-in-1,000 year rain events occurred — in St. Louis, Kentucky, and Illinois. The number of record-breaking extreme precipitation events globally has significantly increased in recent decades, and scientists have documented the fingerprint of global warming in this pattern.
(AP, CNN, Axios, LA Times $, Washington Post $)
(Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation)
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