Near doubling of storm rainfall

摘要

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are the largest type of intense thunderstorms on Earth, ranging in size from one hundred to several hundred kilometres. These storms produce well over half of the spring and summer rainfall in the central United States , and comprise the majority of extreme rainfall events with a 100-year return period. Global climate models generally fail to simulate MCSs, undermining our ability to predict changes in flood-producing storms in the future. Writing in Nature ClimateChange, Andreas Prein and co-authors use high-resolution regional climate simulations to illustrate that MCSs will produce up to 80% more heavy rainfall volume than they do currently.