Much of the heavy rain in 2022, especially in eastern Australia, was caused by a rare triple-dip La Niña event (three in a row from 2020-2022), combined with a negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and a positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM), creating a "conspiracy of climate patterns" that brought persistent moisture and blocked systems, leading to widespread flooding, exacerbated by a warmer, wetter atmosphere due to climate change.
Some droplets fall through the cloud and coalesce into raindrops on their way down. As more and more droplets join together they become too heavy and fall from the cloud as rain. Warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. When the warmer air is cooled and the moisture condenses, it often rains more heavily.
For each degree Celsius of warming, the air's capacity for water vapor goes up by about 7 percent. An atmosphere with more moisture can produce more intense precipitation events, which is exactly what has been observed.
The major cause of rain production is moisture moving along three-dimensional zones of temperature and moisture contrasts known as weather fronts.
While ENSO cycles typically last 9-12 months and pop up intermittently every two to seven years, “triple-dip” La Niña conditions persist for three successive years. NOAA Senior Scientist Michael McPhaden wrote about the 2020–2023 La Niña in the 2022 State of the Climate Report.
La Niña is generally associated with wetter conditions in many parts of the world, especially northern and eastern Australia, bringing increased rainfall, while often causing drier conditions (drought) in the southern United States, with cooler winters in the North U.S. and heavier rains in the Pacific Northwest. It's a climate pattern that shifts rainfall and temperature, but its specific impacts can vary by region and year, often bringing increased tropical cyclone activity too.
ENSO-neutral is likely through at least Northern Hemisphere late spring 2026. In December 2025, La Niña was reflected in the continuation of below-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the east-central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean [Fig. 1].
Since the 1950s, heavy precipitation events have been happening more often across the contiguous United States, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. There is strong evidence that warming due to human activities has contributed to this increase.
An 80% chance of rain means there's a high probability (80%) that measurable rain (at least 0.01 inches or 0.2mm) will fall somewhere within the forecast area during the given time period, not necessarily everywhere or all day. It combines the forecaster's confidence and the expected percentage of the area that might get wet, so you should plan for rain, but expect it might miss you or be brief.
The Los Angeles wildfires last January were the most expensive event of 2025, causing an estimated $61.2 billion in damage. Climate Central said the fires were the costliest wildfire disaster on record, roughly doubling the previous record-holder.
Atacama Desert's Mystery: 400 Years Without Rain. For those who mark the Atacama Desert as a must-see spot, a shared wonder persists - How has this desert endured four centuries without rain? This inquiry ignites the curiosity of travellers worldwide!
Colombia
A much larger country than most of the others on this list, Colombia's heavy rains are the result of a perfect storm of equatorial convection and geography. That combination gives Colombia a slight edge, with 3,240 millimeters of average annual rainfall, the highest of any country as of 2021.
Global warming from climate change means more evaporation and more moisture in the atmosphere, which means rainfall can be intensified. And intense rainfall and changing landscapes make for more disastrous floods. Every 1 degree F rise in temperature can mean 4% more water vapor in the air.
Heavy Rain is a 2010 action-adventure video game developed by Quantic Dream and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game features four protagonists involved with the mystery of the Origami Killer, a serial killer who uses extended periods of rainfall to drown his victims.
The lack of adequate precipitation, either rain or snow, can cause reduced soil moisture or groundwater , diminished stream flow, crop damage, and a general water shortage. All living things and some of the plants will die of droughtnes and starvation. All the living things in the world would not alive.
Once rained nonstop for a million years. Around 230 million years ago, scientists believe that enormous volcanic eruptions kicked off one to two million years of continuous rainfall. The greenhouse gases caused by those volcanoes warmed the planet resulting in extremely intense monsoon conditions.
Previous research has shown that the earth's atmosphere and oceans are currently 1 to 1.5 degrees warmer compared to conditions in the late nineteenth century. A warmer atmosphere holds more water and extreme rain happens when all the water in the atmosphere falls out, researchers say.
Which are the wettest cities in the US?
No, 2025 was generally not hotter than 2024 globally, with 2024 holding the record as the warmest year, but 2025 was still exceptionally hot, ranking as the second or third warmest year on record, slightly cooler due to fading El Niño but continuing a severe warming trend. Early 2025 saw record heat in some areas, but as the year progressed, a shift towards La Niña conditions meant temperatures dipped slightly below 2024's peaks, though still far above historical norms.
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The months of August, September, and October have significantly more hurricane activity than other months. During these months, particularly in September, ocean waters have reached their highest temperatures. They may increase to 80° Fahrenheit and higher, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.