Annual variations in total, MCS-only and non-MCS daily precipitation in the central United States during spring are shown in Fig. 2a–c. Total precipitation increased at a linear rate of 3% per decade over the period 1979–2014. This increase is attributable primarily to an increase in MCS rainfall, which exhibits a trend of 25% per decade. Non-MCS precipitation shows a slightly decreasing, but statistically insignificant, trend of −2% per decade. Since the incorporation of radar and satellite data in the NLDAS precipitation data set beginning in 1996 (see Methods section), linear trends in the period from 1997 to 2014 for MCS precipitation increased to 28% per decade while non-MCS precipitation decreased at a faster rate of −23% per decade.