Series: Extreme Precipitation And Wisconsin's Climate

Climate change is already beginning to affect Wisconsin in subtle but important ways. As the average global temperature creeps upward, climatologists have projected that the upper Midwest will experience heavier precipitation. This shift means not just a greater volume of water in the form of rain or snow, but also more intense storms happening more frequently. While climate change on its own isn't necessarily the culprit behind a given storm, its effects can intensify existing weather patterns and make long-running climatic cycles more unpredictable. While researchers work to understand how climate change interacts with seasonal cycles like El Niño and how human activities affect the outcome of catastrophic floods, communities across the state face new challenges protecting people, infrastructure and their economy.
 
Heavy rainstorms in northwestern Wisconsin on Monday, July 11, led to flooding throughout the region. The flooding also poses a less visible, but still significant threat: It can result in more contaminants in the area's drinking water supplies.
A Florida State University professor looked to Wisconsin to investigate how climate change might make people more vulnerable to groundwater-borne pathogens in the decades ahead.
Between January and June 2017, more than 20 inches of rain fell in Wisconsin, enough to make the first-half of the year the second wettest on record.
Climate change is projected to make the upper Midwest a wetter place as more frequent and intense rains hit the region.
What would happen if a devastating rainstorm that hits an area and causes damaging floods instead struck somewhere else?
The concept of flood recurrence intervals is a classic example of a communication gap that can form between scientists and the public.
With the summer of 2017 in the record books, many parts of Wisconsin are still feeling the impact of the season's wet weather.
After yet another summer of dangerous and destructive flooding, from Ino to Madison to Coon Valley, Wisconsinites seem more ready than ever to discuss how climate change is affecting the state.
While efforts after August 2018 storms focused on cleaning up and limiting flooding, Madison will need to address its vulnerability to extreme rainfall if it wants to prepare for the future.