Harrisburg, PA—Ten months after Tropical Storm Lee led to record
flooding that devastated the Susquehanna Valley, a new
PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center report confirms that
extreme rainstorms and snowstorms are happening 52 percent more
frequently in Pennsylvania since 1948. “As the old saying goes,
when it rains, it pours—especially in recent years as bigger
storms have hit Pennsylvania more often,” said Adam Garber,
Field Director for PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. “We
need to heed scientists’ warnings that this dangerous trend is
linked to global warming, and do everything we can to cut carbon
pollution today.” Based on an analysis of state data from the
National Climatic Data Center, the new report found that heavy
downpours or snowstorms that used to happen once every 12 months
on average in the state now happen every 7.9 months on average.
Moreover, the biggest storms are getting bigger. The largest
annual storms in Pennsylvania now produce 23 percent more
precipitation, on average,