WASHINGTON POST • September 3, 2022
This summer featured a new era of extreme precipitation events brought on by a warming world: wet events are becoming wetter, and dry events are becoming drier. The monsoon pattern helped break all-time monthly rainfall records near the Arizona-New Mexico border. But while extreme precipitation events logged impressive rainfall rates, they are not large enough to compensate for the large expanses of drought. The western United States, especially California, is the most noticeable drought-stricken area. A lack of summer precipitation has also severely affected the Northeast.