<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><base href="/"><title>How Hurricane Harvey's Record-Setting Rainfall Is Happening Right Now</title><meta charset="UTF-8"><meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><link rel="canonical" itemprop="url" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/08/28/how-hurricane-harveys-record-setting-rainfall-is-happening-right-now/"><script>!function(e){function n(r){if(t[r])return t[r].exports;var o=t[r]={i:r,l:!1,exports:{}};return e[r].call(o.exports,o,o.exports,n),o.l=!0,o.exports}var r=window.webpackJsonp;window.webpackJsonp=function(t,c,a){for(var i,u,f,s=0,d=[];s<t.length;s++)u=t[s],o[u]&&d.push(o[u][0]),o[u]=0;for(i in c)Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(c,i)&&(e[i]=c[i]);for(r&&r(t,c,a);d.length;)d.shift()();if(a)for(s=0;s<a.length;s++)f=n(n.s=a[s]);return f};var t={},o={6:0};n.e=function(e){function 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	<metrics _ngcontent-c15="" class="fs-text-xs" _nghost-c26=""><time _ngcontent-c26="">Aug 28, 2017 @ 04:25 PM</time>
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<!----><h1 _ngcontent-c15="" class="fs-headline speakable-headline">How Hurricane Harvey's Record-Setting Rainfall Is Happening Right Now</h1>

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<div _ngcontent-c20="" innerhtml="<div id=&quot;attachment_840160568&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
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    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>Stranded vehicles sit where they got stuck in high water from Hurricane Harvey on Dairy Ashford Drive, August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Image credit:&amp;nbsp;Erich Schlegel/Getty Images.</p> 
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<p>No hurricane, typhoon, or tropical storm, in all of recorded history, has dropped as much water on a single major city as Hurricane Harvey is in the process of doing right now in Houston, TX. The National Weather Service <a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/NWS/status/902174274571689984&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>has had to create a new scale</a> to accurately depict how much rain has fallen, as a few locations have crested the&amp;nbsp;<em>three foot</em> mark since the Hurricane first made landfall. Things aren't even done yet, as the eye of the storm has taken up residence right off of the Texas coast, and large swaths of the southwest will continue to experience unprecedented, heavy rains all throughout the week. While many weather professionals are calling this a &quot;500-year-storm,&quot; indicating that there's only a 0.2% of a storm like this happening in a given year, the science of how a storm like this occurs is actually very straightforward.</p> 
<div id=&quot;attachment_7905&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
 <div class=&quot;article-body-image&quot;> 
  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FDIUqn7dXUAAVo5r.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FDIUqn7dXUAAVo5r.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot;></progressive-image> 
  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>National Weather Service</small> 
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    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>The new rainfall scale created by the National Weather Service shows how much rain has fallen, as of Monday morning, in the region hit by Hurricane Harvey. The old scale capped out at 'greater than 15 inches'.</p> 
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<p>All you need is warm ocean water and wind, and a few key ingredients can come together to create a tropical storm. There's a reason that such storms (e.g., cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons) always form over equatorial regions: that's where the warmest ocean water is located. When wind blows over that warm ocean water, it picks up not only heat but also moisture from the ocean. Water has more heat capacity and is far denser than air, so when the ocean is warmer than the air, it heats it up very efficiently, and causes it to rise. As it rises, it cools, which means the water-containing air will then form clouds. This is a straightforward phenomenon, but it isn't enough to make a hurricane on its own.</p> 
<p> 
 </p> 
<div id=&quot;attachment_7906&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
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  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fcyclone_map_large-1200x632-1200x632.gif%3F&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fcyclone_map_large-1200x632-1200x632.gif%3F&quot;></progressive-image> 
  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>NOAA / NASA / Scijinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/</small> 
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    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>A map of where tropical storms form, and what the different names (typhoon, cyclone, hurricane) are that are given to the most powerful ones.</p> 
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<p>The warmer the ocean water is, the easier it is for that moisture-rich air to rise, cool, and provide ongoing fuel for a storm. In order to make a tropical cyclone, you need that water to be at least 80º F (27º C) for the first 50 meters (165 feet) of its depth. This is why tropical storms like hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones only form along the equatorial regions of the world; you need that warm, deep ocean water. But you also need something else: fast-moving winds. &amp;nbsp;Between about 30º N and 30º S of the equator, where the water is warm enough to give rise to tropical storms, the Earth's prevailing winds circulate from east to west, with northern latitudes seeing winds that blow southwest and southern latitudes having winds that blow northwest. These winds, combined with the warm temperatures, are key for creating hurricanes.</p> 
<div class=&quot;vestpocket&quot; vest-pocket=&quot;&quot;></div> 
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  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FEarth_Global_Circulation_-_en.svg_-1200x1002.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FEarth_Global_Circulation_-_en.svg_-1200x1002.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot;></progressive-image> 
  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>Kaidor / Wikimedia Commons</small> 
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    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>Earth's global circulation patterns are dependent on latitude more than anything else.</p> 
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<p>Where you have fast-moving winds over the warm ocean, the air heats up, absorbs moisture, and rises.&amp;nbsp;The warmer the water and the faster the air just above the surface moves, the faster the water evaporates, turns into water vapor, and then rises. The air and the vapor within it cool as the air rises, and eventually the vapor condenses back into clouds. Where there's lots of moving air over warm water, there's lots of moisture rising, and hence, thicker clouds. These cumulonimbus clouds (or, more commonly, rain clouds) will &quot;stack&quot; on top of one another, rising higher and higher, creating the origins of a tropical disturbance.</p> 
<div id=&quot;attachment_7908&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
 <div class=&quot;article-body-image&quot;> 
  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large-1200x1131-1200x1131.gif%3F&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large-1200x1131-1200x1131.gif%3F&quot;></progressive-image> 
  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>NASA's SciJinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/</small> 
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    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>The formation of a hurricane relies on warm, humid air, winds, and pressure changes.</p> 
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<p>Most disturbances don't turn into hurricanes, but some will. If the&amp;nbsp;rising&amp;nbsp;warm air is then pulled into the column of clouds, while the air at the top cools, the high-altitude air can become unstable, forcing it&amp;nbsp;to sink again. But it may not be able to sink fast enough. If not, the cooling water vapor releases heat, making the cloud-tops warmer, raising the air pressure and causing winds to blow outwards from the center. Finally, the cool air will fall, but this low-pressure area makes it easy for the water at the surface to evaporate and rise, creating more clouds and a larger rising, stacking area. As winds in the column start to spin faster and faster, a tropical depression, tropical storm or even a full-fledged tropical cyclone (i.e., a hurricane) can form. And so long as it remains over this warm, liquid ocean, it can continue to strengthen.</p> 
<div id=&quot;attachment_7909&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
 <div class=&quot;article-body-image&quot;> 
  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large.en_-1200x668.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large.en_-1200x668.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot;></progressive-image> 
  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>NASA's Space Place, via http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/</small> 
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    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>The cloud cells, complete with rising and falling air, which circulates around the 'eye'.</p> 
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<p>The worst-case scenario for a storm is where it develops in the ocean, strengthens as it moves over land, and then migrates to make landfall right where the directions of the prevailing winds change: at around 30 degrees latitude. The greatest flooding and devastation occurs when the storm&amp;nbsp;either remains stationary, right on a coastal area for a long time, or when it moves&amp;nbsp;along a coastal region, constantly being fed by the ocean waters as it does so. Houston, Texas, is located right at&amp;nbsp;29.8° N latitude, right by the gulf coast; it is at the right location, unfortunately, to experience this perfect type of storm. This <a href=&quot;http://hint.fm/wind/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>real-time wind map of the United States</a> shows how dire the situation is, as does the embedded video (below) <a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>from the National Weather Service</a>.</p> 
<blockquote class=&quot;twitter-tweet&quot;> 
 <p dir=&quot;ltr&quot; lang=&quot;en&quot;>Updated radar animation for <a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/hashtag/Harvey?src=hash&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>#Harvey</a> that includes the last 24 hours. The animation runs from 7 pm CDT Thu 8/24 to 1130 am CDT Mon 8/28. <a href=&quot;https://t.co/yBGGXnVwCj&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>pic.twitter.com/yBGGXnVwCj</a></p> 
 <p>— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) <a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>August 28, 2017</a></p> 
</blockquote> 
<p>As you can see, the combination of the unusually warm water, the fact that Houston (and the hurricane's eye) are right on the border of where the prevailing winds change directions from east-to-west to west-to-east, and the water-to-land boundary along the gulf coast has created the exact recipe needed for this unfolding catastrophe. Things are not going to get better anytime soon, either. According to the <a href=&quot;http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>NOAA National Hurricane Center</a>:</p> 
<blockquote> 
 <p>Harvey is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 15 to 25 inches through Friday over the middle and upper Texas coast, including the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. Isolated storm totals may reach 50 inches in this region. These rains are currently producing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding, and flash flood emergencies are in effect for portions of southeastern Texas.</p> 
</blockquote> 
<p>Yes, climate change likely played a role in this event, as <a href=&quot;https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/07/26/heartlands-6-reasons-to-be-a-climate-change-skeptic-are-six-demonstrable-lies/&quot; target=&quot;_self&quot;>fewer, more intense hurricanes, coupled with sea level rise</a>, are being borne out, exactly as predicted. Unfortunately, this likely means that &quot;once every 500 years&quot; is likely to be very wrong, as the Hurricane Katrinas, Sandys, and Harveys of this world are only going to become more common moving forward.</p>"><div id="attachment_840160568" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
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    <p class="wp-caption-text">Stranded vehicles sit where they got stuck in high water from Hurricane Harvey on Dairy Ashford Drive, August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Image credit:&nbsp;Erich Schlegel/Getty Images.</p> 
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 </div> 
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<p class="speakable-paragraph">No hurricane, typhoon, or tropical storm, in all of recorded history, has dropped as much water on a single major city as Hurricane Harvey is in the process of doing right now in Houston, TX. The National Weather Service <a href="https://twitter.com/NWS/status/902174274571689984" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">has had to create a new scale</a> to accurately depict how much rain has fallen, as a few locations have crested the&nbsp;<em>three foot</em> mark since the Hurricane first made landfall. Things aren't even done yet, as the eye of the storm has taken up residence right off of the Texas coast, and large swaths of the southwest will continue to experience unprecedented, heavy rains all throughout the week. While many weather professionals are calling this a "500-year-storm," indicating that there's only a 0.2% of a storm like this happening in a given year, the science of how a storm like this occurs is actually very straightforward.</p> 
<div id="attachment_7905" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FDIUqn7dXUAAVo5r.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FDIUqn7dXUAAVo5r.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960"></progressive-image> 
  <small class="article-photo-credit">National Weather Service</small> 
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  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
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    <p class="wp-caption-text">The new rainfall scale created by the National Weather Service shows how much rain has fallen, as of Monday morning, in the region hit by Hurricane Harvey. The old scale capped out at 'greater than 15 inches'.</p> 
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<p>All you need is warm ocean water and wind, and a few key ingredients can come together to create a tropical storm. There's a reason that such storms (e.g., cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons) always form over equatorial regions: that's where the warmest ocean water is located. When wind blows over that warm ocean water, it picks up not only heat but also moisture from the ocean. Water has more heat capacity and is far denser than air, so when the ocean is warmer than the air, it heats it up very efficiently, and causes it to rise. As it rises, it cools, which means the water-containing air will then form clouds. This is a straightforward phenomenon, but it isn't enough to make a hurricane on its own.</p> 
<p> 
 </p> 
<div id="attachment_7906" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fcyclone_map_large-1200x632-1200x632.gif%3F" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fcyclone_map_large-1200x632-1200x632.gif%3F"></progressive-image> 
  <small class="article-photo-credit">NOAA / NASA / Scijinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/</small> 
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  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
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    <p class="wp-caption-text">A map of where tropical storms form, and what the different names (typhoon, cyclone, hurricane) are that are given to the most powerful ones.</p> 
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  </div> 
 </div> 
</div> 
<p>The warmer the ocean water is, the easier it is for that moisture-rich air to rise, cool, and provide ongoing fuel for a storm. In order to make a tropical cyclone, you need that water to be at least 80º F (27º C) for the first 50 meters (165 feet) of its depth. This is why tropical storms like hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones only form along the equatorial regions of the world; you need that warm, deep ocean water. But you also need something else: fast-moving winds. &nbsp;Between about 30º N and 30º S of the equator, where the water is warm enough to give rise to tropical storms, the Earth's prevailing winds circulate from east to west, with northern latitudes seeing winds that blow southwest and southern latitudes having winds that blow northwest. These winds, combined with the warm temperatures, are key for creating hurricanes.</p> 
<div class="vestpocket" vest-pocket=""></div> 
<div id="attachment_7907" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FEarth_Global_Circulation_-_en.svg_-1200x1002.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2FEarth_Global_Circulation_-_en.svg_-1200x1002.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960"></progressive-image> 
  <small class="article-photo-credit">Kaidor / Wikimedia Commons</small> 
 </div> 
 <div article-image-caption=""> 
  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
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    <p class="wp-caption-text">Earth's global circulation patterns are dependent on latitude more than anything else.</p> 
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  </div> 
 </div> 
</div> 
<p>Where you have fast-moving winds over the warm ocean, the air heats up, absorbs moisture, and rises.&nbsp;The warmer the water and the faster the air just above the surface moves, the faster the water evaporates, turns into water vapor, and then rises. The air and the vapor within it cool as the air rises, and eventually the vapor condenses back into clouds. Where there's lots of moving air over warm water, there's lots of moisture rising, and hence, thicker clouds. These cumulonimbus clouds (or, more commonly, rain clouds) will "stack" on top of one another, rising higher and higher, creating the origins of a tropical disturbance.</p> 
<div id="attachment_7908" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large-1200x1131-1200x1131.gif%3F" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large-1200x1131-1200x1131.gif%3F"></progressive-image> 
  <small class="article-photo-credit">NASA's SciJinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/</small> 
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  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
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    <p class="wp-caption-text">The formation of a hurricane relies on warm, humid air, winds, and pressure changes.</p> 
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  </div> 
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<p>Most disturbances don't turn into hurricanes, but some will. If the&nbsp;rising&nbsp;warm air is then pulled into the column of clouds, while the air at the top cools, the high-altitude air can become unstable, forcing it&nbsp;to sink again. But it may not be able to sink fast enough. If not, the cooling water vapor releases heat, making the cloud-tops warmer, raising the air pressure and causing winds to blow outwards from the center. Finally, the cool air will fall, but this low-pressure area makes it easy for the water at the surface to evaporate and rise, creating more clouds and a larger rising, stacking area. As winds in the column start to spin faster and faster, a tropical depression, tropical storm or even a full-fledged tropical cyclone (i.e., a hurricane) can form. And so long as it remains over this warm, liquid ocean, it can continue to strengthen.</p> 
<div id="attachment_7909" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large.en_-1200x668.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F08%2Fhurricane_diagram_large.en_-1200x668.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960"></progressive-image> 
  <small class="article-photo-credit">NASA's Space Place, via http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/</small> 
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  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
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    <p class="wp-caption-text">The cloud cells, complete with rising and falling air, which circulates around the 'eye'.</p> 
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<p>The worst-case scenario for a storm is where it develops in the ocean, strengthens as it moves over land, and then migrates to make landfall right where the directions of the prevailing winds change: at around 30 degrees latitude. The greatest flooding and devastation occurs when the storm&nbsp;either remains stationary, right on a coastal area for a long time, or when it moves&nbsp;along a coastal region, constantly being fed by the ocean waters as it does so. Houston, Texas, is located right at&nbsp;29.8° N latitude, right by the gulf coast; it is at the right location, unfortunately, to experience this perfect type of storm. This <a href="http://hint.fm/wind/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">real-time wind map of the United States</a> shows how dire the situation is, as does the embedded video (below) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">from the National Weather Service</a>.</p> 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> 
 <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Updated radar animation for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Harvey?src=hash" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">#Harvey</a> that includes the last 24 hours. The animation runs from 7 pm CDT Thu 8/24 to 1130 am CDT Mon 8/28. <a href="https://t.co/yBGGXnVwCj" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">pic.twitter.com/yBGGXnVwCj</a></p> 
 <p>— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">August 28, 2017</a></p> 
</blockquote> 
<p>As you can see, the combination of the unusually warm water, the fact that Houston (and the hurricane's eye) are right on the border of where the prevailing winds change directions from east-to-west to west-to-east, and the water-to-land boundary along the gulf coast has created the exact recipe needed for this unfolding catastrophe. Things are not going to get better anytime soon, either. According to the <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">NOAA National Hurricane Center</a>:</p> 
<blockquote> 
 <p>Harvey is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 15 to 25 inches through Friday over the middle and upper Texas coast, including the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. Isolated storm totals may reach 50 inches in this region. These rains are currently producing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding, and flash flood emergencies are in effect for portions of southeastern Texas.</p> 
</blockquote> 
<p>Yes, climate change likely played a role in this event, as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/07/26/heartlands-6-reasons-to-be-a-climate-change-skeptic-are-six-demonstrable-lies/" target="_self">fewer, more intense hurricanes, coupled with sea level rise</a>, are being borne out, exactly as predicted. Unfortunately, this likely means that "once every 500 years" is likely to be very wrong, as the Hurricane Katrinas, Sandys, and Harveys of this world are only going to become more common moving forward.</p></div>
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	</app-root><script id="ng-templates-state" type="application/json">{&q;environmentName&q;:&q;prod&q;,&q;is_mobile&q;:false,&q;/forbesapi/content/uri.json?shortcodes=true&a;slides=true&a;type=ng&a;tickers=true&a;bvallpages=true&a;autovpslider=true&a;stream=true&a;compressimages=true&a;mobile=false&a;prgsmobileads=false&a;relativeVideo=true&a;videoplayertype=brightcove_perform_with_keyvalues&a;swimlane=&a;uri=http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/08/28/how-hurricane-harveys-record-setting-rainfall-is-happening-right-now/&q;:{&q;content&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;content_59a445d864aaf9435aebc7cf&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/4033-7903&q;,&q;source&q;:&q;blogs&q;,&q;author&q;:&q;Ethan Siegel&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;How Hurricane Harvey&s;s Record-Setting Rainfall Is Happening Right Now&q;,&q;date&q;:1503951900000,&q;body&q;:&q;&l;p&g;[caption id=\&q;attachment_840160568\&q; photocredit=\&q;\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;960\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-840160568\&q; src=\&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/840160568/960x0.jpg?fit=scale\&q; data-height=\&q;627\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q;&g; Stranded vehicles sit where they got stuck in high water from Hurricane Harvey on Dairy Ashford Drive, August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Image credit:&a;nbsp;Erich Schlegel/Getty Images.[/caption]\r\n\r\n&l;!--donotpaginate--&g;No hurricane, typhoon, or tropical storm, in all of recorded history, has dropped as much water on a single major city as Hurricane Harvey is in the process of doing right now in Houston, TX. The National Weather Service &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/NWS/status/902174274571689984\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;has had to create a new scale&l;/a&g; to accurately depict how much rain has fallen, as a few locations have crested the&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;three foot&l;/em&g; mark since the Hurricane first made landfall. Things aren&s;t even done yet, as the eye of the storm has taken up residence right off of the Texas coast, and large swaths of the southwest will continue to experience unprecedented, heavy rains all throughout the week. While many weather professionals are calling this a \&q;500-year-storm,\&q; indicating that there&s;s only a 0.2% of a storm like this happening in a given year, the science of how a storm like this occurs is actually very straightforward.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_7905\&q; photocredit=\&q;National Weather Service\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;960\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-7905\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/DIUqn7dXUAAVo5r.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;720\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q;&g; The new rainfall scale created by the National Weather Service shows how much rain has fallen, as of Monday morning, in the region hit by Hurricane Harvey. The old scale capped out at &s;greater than 15 inches&s;.[/caption]\r\n\r\nAll you need is warm ocean water and wind, and a few key ingredients can come together to create a tropical storm. There&s;s a reason that such storms (e.g., cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons) always form over equatorial regions: that&s;s where the warmest ocean water is located. When wind blows over that warm ocean water, it picks up not only heat but also moisture from the ocean. Water has more heat capacity and is far denser than air, so when the ocean is warmer than the air, it heats it up very efficiently, and causes it to rise. As it rises, it cools, which means the water-containing air will then form clouds. This is a straightforward phenomenon, but it isn&s;t enough to make a hurricane on its own.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_7906\&q; photocredit=\&q;NOAA / NASA / Scijinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;1200\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;size-large wp-image-7906\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/cyclone_map_large-1200x632-1200x632.gif?\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;632\&q; data-width=\&q;1200\&q;&g; A map of where tropical storms form, and what the different names (typhoon, cyclone, hurricane) are that are given to the most powerful ones.[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe warmer the ocean water is, the easier it is for that moisture-rich air to rise, cool, and provide ongoing fuel for a storm. In order to make a tropical cyclone, you need that water to be at least 80&a;ordm; F (27&a;ordm; C) for the first 50 meters (165 feet) of its depth. This is why tropical storms like hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones only form along the equatorial regions of the world; you need that warm, deep ocean water. But you also need something else: fast-moving winds. &a;nbsp;Between about 30&a;ordm; N and 30&a;ordm; S of the equator, where the water is warm enough to give rise to tropical storms, the Earth&s;s prevailing winds circulate from east to west, with northern latitudes seeing winds that blow southwest and southern latitudes having winds that blow northwest. These winds, combined with the warm temperatures, are key for creating hurricanes.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_7907\&q; photocredit=\&q;Kaidor / Wikimedia Commons\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;960\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-7907\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/Earth_Global_Circulation_-_en.svg_-1200x1002.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;802\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q;&g; Earth&s;s global circulation patterns are dependent on latitude more than anything else.[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhere you have fast-moving winds over the warm ocean, the air heats up, absorbs moisture, and rises.&a;nbsp;The warmer the water and the faster the air just above the surface moves, the faster the water evaporates, turns into water vapor, and then rises. The air and the vapor within it cool as the air rises, and eventually the vapor condenses back into clouds. Where there&s;s lots of moving air over warm water, there&s;s lots of moisture rising, and hence, thicker clouds. These cumulonimbus clouds (or, more commonly, rain clouds) will \&q;stack\&q; on top of one another, rising higher and higher, creating the origins of a tropical disturbance.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_7908\&q; photocredit=\&q;NASA&s;s SciJinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;1200\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;size-large wp-image-7908\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/hurricane_diagram_large-1200x1131-1200x1131.gif?\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;1131\&q; data-width=\&q;1200\&q;&g; The formation of a hurricane relies on warm, humid air, winds, and pressure changes.[/caption]\r\n\r\nMost disturbances don&s;t turn into hurricanes, but some will. If the&a;nbsp;rising&a;nbsp;warm air is then pulled into the column of clouds, while the air at the top cools, the high-altitude air can become unstable, forcing it&a;nbsp;to sink again. But it may not be able to sink fast enough. If not, the cooling water vapor releases heat, making the cloud-tops warmer, raising the air pressure and causing winds to blow outwards from the center. Finally, the cool air will fall, but this low-pressure area makes it easy for the water at the surface to evaporate and rise, creating more clouds and a larger rising, stacking area. As winds in the column start to spin faster and faster, a tropical depression, tropical storm or even a full-fledged tropical cyclone (i.e., a hurricane) can form. And so long as it remains over this warm, liquid ocean, it can continue to strengthen.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_7909\&q; photocredit=\&q;NASA&s;s Space Place, via http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;960\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-7909\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/hurricane_diagram_large.en_-1200x668.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;534\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q;&g; The cloud cells, complete with rising and falling air, which circulates around the &s;eye&s;.[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe worst-case scenario for a storm is where it develops in the ocean, strengthens as it moves over land, and then migrates to make landfall right where the directions of the prevailing winds change: at around 30 degrees latitude. The greatest flooding and devastation occurs when the storm&a;nbsp;either remains stationary, right on a coastal area for a long time, or when it moves&a;nbsp;along a coastal region, constantly being fed by the ocean waters as it does so. Houston, Texas, is located right at&a;nbsp;29.8&a;deg; N latitude, right by the gulf coast; it is at the right location, unfortunately, to experience this perfect type of storm. This &l;a href=\&q;http://hint.fm/wind/\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;real-time wind map of the United States&l;/a&g; shows how dire the situation is, as does the embedded video (below) &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;from the National Weather Service&l;/a&g;.\r\n&l;/p&g;&l;blockquote class=\&q;twitter-tweet\&q;&g;\r\n&l;p dir=\&q;ltr\&q; lang=\&q;en\&q;&g;Updated radar animation for &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/hashtag/Harvey?src=hash\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;#Harvey&l;/a&g; that includes the last 24 hours. The animation runs from 7 pm CDT Thu 8/24 to 1130 am CDT Mon 8/28. &l;a href=\&q;https://t.co/yBGGXnVwCj\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;pic.twitter.com/yBGGXnVwCj&l;/a&g;&l;/p&g;\r\n&a;mdash; NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;August 28, 2017&l;/a&g;&l;/blockquote&g;\r\nAs you can see, the combination of the unusually warm water, the fact that Houston (and the hurricane&s;s eye) are right on the border of where the prevailing winds change directions from east-to-west to west-to-east, and the water-to-land boundary along the gulf coast has created the exact recipe needed for this unfolding catastrophe. Things are not going to get better anytime soon, either. According to the &l;a href=\&q;http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;NOAA National Hurricane Center&l;/a&g;:\r\n&l;blockquote&g;Harvey is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 15 to 25 inches through Friday over the middle and upper Texas coast, including the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. Isolated storm totals may reach 50 inches in this region. These rains are currently producing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding, and flash flood emergencies are in effect for portions of southeastern Texas.&l;/blockquote&g;\r\nYes, climate change likely played a role in this event, as &l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/07/26/heartlands-6-reasons-to-be-a-climate-change-skeptic-are-six-demonstrable-lies/\&q;&g;fewer, more intense hurricanes, coupled with sea level rise&l;/a&g;, are being borne out, exactly as predicted. Unfortunately, this likely means that \&q;once every 500 years\&q; is likely to be very wrong, as the Hurricane Katrinas, Sandys, and Harveys of this world are only going to become more common moving forward.&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;Nearly three feet of rain has already fallen in places, and the flooding in such a major, populous city is unprecedented. But the science says it happened all too easily.&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/840160568/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;storyType&q;:&q;post&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/08/28/how-hurricane-harveys-record-setting-rainfall-is-happening-right-now/&q;,&q;comments&q;:[],&q;visible&q;:true,&q;authors&q;:[{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/1655983&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Ethan Siegel&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:400,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6e260b0d51ec7a86c48b3360c8682a32?s=400&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:136,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6e260b0d51ec7a86c48b3360c8682a32?s=136&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:62,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6e260b0d51ec7a86c48b3360c8682a32?s=62&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:40,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6e260b0d51ec7a86c48b3360c8682a32?s=40&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;}],&q;url&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/ethansiegel/&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Contributor&q;,&q;profileUrl&q;:&q;/sites/ethansiegel/&q;,&q;twitterName&q;:&q;StartsWithABang&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;individual&q;,&q;facebookName&q;:&q;ethansiegel&q;,&q;email&q;:&q;ethan.siegel@gmail.com&q;,&q;blog&q;:false,&q;timestamp&q;:1505324843163,&q;shortBio&q;:&q;The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it.&q;,&q;amazon&q;:&q;http://amzn.to/2na2hwn&q;,&q;blogName&q;:&q;Ethan Siegel&q;,&q;topics&q;:[&q;innovation-and-science&q;,&q;tech&q;,&q;logistics-transportation&q;,&q;science&q;,&q;powering-productivity&q;,&q;security&q;,&q;transformational-tech&q;,&q;gear&q;,&q;asia&q;,&q;data-driven&q;,&q;games&q;],&q;description&q;:&q;I am a Ph.D. astrophysicist, author, and science communicator, who professes physics and astronomy at various colleges. I have won numerous awards for science writing since 2008 for my blog, Starts With A Bang, including the award for best science blog by the Institute of Physics. My two books, Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive, Beyond the Galaxy: How humanity looked beyond our Milky Way and discovered the entire Universe, are available for purchase at Amazon. Follow me on Twitter @startswithabang.&q;,&q;recentActivityCount&q;:0,&q;latestActivityDate&q;:1447688160000,&q;dailyActivityCount&q;:0,&q;primaryBlogNaturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-3662&q;,&q;shortUri&q;:&q;http://onforb.es/1yt6EOh&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;technology&q;,&q;displaySection&q;:&q;science&q;,&q;contributorSince&q;:1427748887000,&q;slug&q;:&q;ethansiegel&q;,&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;embargo&q;:false,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;primarySectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;,&q;googlePlus&q;:&q;106562040211983246504&q;,&q;altEmail&q;:&q;startswithabang@gmail.com&q;,&q;enableContribContact&q;:true,&q;sigfile&q;:&q;&l;em&g;Astrophysicist and author Ethan Siegel is the founder and primary writer of Starts With A Bang! His books, &l;a href=\&q;http://amzn.to/2na2hwn\&q;&g;Treknology&l;/a&g; and &l;a href=\&q;http://amzn.to/2mZrGIv\&q;&g;Beyond The Galaxy&l;/a&g;, are available wherever books are sold.&l;/em&g;&q;,&q;enableTwitterFeed&q;:false,&q;disableCanonical&q;:false,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;forbesTwitterProfile&q;:{&q;screenName&q;:&q;StartsWithABang&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Ethan Siegel&q;,&q;profileImageUrl&q;:&q;http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/951535609625169920/YOJlP28O.jpg&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;The Universe is: Expanding, cooling, and dark. It starts with a bang! #Cosmology Science writer, astrophysicist, author, Forbes &a; NASA columnist.&q;,&q;createdDate&q;:1302574900000,&q;location&q;:&q;Portland, OR&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;https://t.co/5r1Xpwqjub&q;,&q;expandedUrl&q;:&q;http://forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/&q;,&q;displayUrl&q;:&q;forbes.com/sites/startswi…&q;,&q;verified&q;:false},&q;inactive&q;:true,&q;badges&q;:[],&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Tech&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;,&q;sectionName&q;:&q;Science&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/science&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Science&q;},&q;division&q;:&q;FC&q;,&q;allowEmail&q;:false,&q;avatar_map&q;:{}},{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-4033&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Starts With A Bang&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:400,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/assets/images/avatars/blog-4033_400_bb861067b7e24bc2865e470e8808c0ff.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:136,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/assets/images/avatars/blog-4033_136_bb861067b7e24bc2865e470e8808c0ff.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:62,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/assets/images/avatars/blog-4033_62_bb861067b7e24bc2865e470e8808c0ff.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:40,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/assets/images/avatars/blog-4033_40_bb861067b7e24bc2865e470e8808c0ff.jpg&q;}],&q;url&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Contributor Group&q;,&q;profileUrl&q;:&q;https://blogs.forbes.com/startswithabang/profile/&q;,&q;twitterName&q;:&q;StartsWithABang&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;group&q;,&q;tagName&q;:&q;The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it&q;,&q;blog&q;:true,&q;timestamp&q;:1506445855464,&q;webSite&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/&q;,&q;topics&q;:[&q;transformational-tech&q;,&q;tech&q;,&q;science&q;,&q;gear&q;,&q;powering-productivity&q;,&q;asia&q;,&q;data-driven&q;,&q;games&q;],&q;authors&q;:[&q;1861415&q;,&q;1655983&q;,&q;1863013&q;,&q;1878948&q;],&q;description&q;:&q;Starts With A Bang is dedicated to exploring the story of what we know about the Universe as well as how we know it, with a focus on physics, astronomy, and the scientific story that the Universe tells us about itself. Written by Ph.D. scientists and edited/created by astrophysicist Ethan Siegel, our goal is to share the joy, wonder and awe of scientific discovery.&q;,&q;recentActivityCount&q;:6,&q;latestActivityDate&q;:1447688160000,&q;dailyActivityCount&q;:0,&q;primaryBlogNaturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-4033&q;,&q;primaryContributor&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/1878948&q;,&q;primaryContributorData&q;:{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/1878948&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Starts With A Bang&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:136,&q;image&q;:&q;http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/b21b460f0bc77f362ce43d56edb8c269?s=136&a;amp;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D136&a;amp;r=G&q;},{&q;size&q;:40,&q;image&q;:&q;http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/b21b460f0bc77f362ce43d56edb8c269?s=40&a;amp;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D40&a;amp;r=G&q;},{&q;size&q;:400,&q;image&q;:&q;http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/b21b460f0bc77f362ce43d56edb8c269?s=400&a;amp;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D400&a;amp;r=G&q;},{&q;size&q;:62,&q;image&q;:&q;http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/b21b460f0bc77f362ce43d56edb8c269?s=62&a;amp;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D62&a;amp;r=G&q;}],&q;blog&q;:false,&q;shortBio&q;:&q;The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;Starts With A Bang is dedicated to exploring the story of what we know about the Universe as well as how we know it, with a focus on physics, astronomy, and the scientific story that the Universe tells us about itself. Written by Ph.D. scientists and edited/created by astrophysicist Ethan Siegel, our goal is to share the joy, wonder and awe of scientific discovery.\&q;&q;,&q;allowEmail&q;:false},&q;shortUri&q;:&q;http://onforb.es/1GwcV5b&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;technology&q;,&q;displaySection&q;:&q;science&q;,&q;contributorSince&q;:1445626980000,&q;slug&q;:&q;startswithabang&q;,&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;embargo&q;:false,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;primarySectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;,&q;facebookPage&q;:&q;https://www.facebook.com/startswithabang/&q;,&q;enableContribContact&q;:false,&q;enableTwitterFeed&q;:false,&q;disableCanonical&q;:false,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;forbesTwitterProfile&q;:{&q;screenName&q;:&q;StartsWithABang&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Ethan Siegel&q;,&q;profileImageUrl&q;:&q;http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/951535609625169920/YOJlP28O.jpg&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;The Universe is: Expanding, cooling, and dark. It starts with a bang! #Cosmology Science writer, astrophysicist, author, Forbes &a; NASA columnist.&q;,&q;createdDate&q;:1302574900000,&q;location&q;:&q;Portland, OR&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;https://t.co/5r1Xpwqjub&q;,&q;expandedUrl&q;:&q;http://forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/&q;,&q;displayUrl&q;:&q;forbes.com/sites/startswi…&q;,&q;verified&q;:false},&q;inactive&q;:false,&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Tech&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;,&q;sectionName&q;:&q;Science&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/science&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Science&q;},&q;allowEmail&q;:false,&q;avatar_map&q;:{}}],&q;channelSection&q;:[{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;},{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;}],&q;slug&q;:&q;Starts With A Bang&q;,&q;blogType&q;:&q;group&q;,&q;sitePage&q;:&q;forbes.com/technology/blogs/startswithabang/index.html&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;technology&q;,&q;displaySection&q;:&q;science&q;,&q;vestPocketList&q;:[{&q;type&q;:&q;slide&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlj45jggj/1-detroit/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/026M72T8ElbzS/&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;The 10 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndSlideId/blog/slide/986-6336&q;,&q;count&q;:33763,&q;reason&q;:&q;MP-G&q;},{&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2018/02/18/ten-things-your-boss-does-not-need-to-know-about-you/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/169824548/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Ten Things Your Boss Does Not Need To Know About You&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/2989-32977&q;,&q;count&q;:0,&q;reason&q;:&q;LI&q;}],&q;generatedId&q;:&q;hdgg45kmdg&q;,&q;manualDescription&q;:&q;Nearly three feet of rain has already fallen in places, and the flooding in such a major, populous city is unprecedented. But the science says it happened all too easily.&q;,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;primarySectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;,&q;vestPocketPosition&q;:6,&q;siteSlug&q;:&q;startswithabang&q;,&q;preview&q;:false,&q;showComments&q;:true,&q;timestamp&q;:1503960662565,&q;statsEntities&q;:[{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Weather&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Disaster_Accident&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Environment&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Vortices&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Meteorology&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Fluid dynamics&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Physical geography&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Tropical cyclone&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Eye&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Cyclone&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Digital Media Agencies&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;gulf coast&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Region&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Texas&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;ProvinceOrState&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.8},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Organization&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;National Aeronautics and Space Administration&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Organization&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Getty Images&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Company&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;southeastern Texas&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Region&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;animation&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Technology&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;NOAA National Hurricane Center&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Organization&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;United States&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Country&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;flash&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Technology&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Texas coast&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;NaturalFeature&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.8},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Houston&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;City&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.8},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Erich Schlegel&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Person&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;National Weather Service&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Organization&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.8}],&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;writtenByForbesStaff&q;:false,&q;templateType&q;:&q;standard&q;,&q;enableSigfile&q;:true,&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Tech&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;,&q;sectionName&q;:&q;Science&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/science&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Science&q;},&q;pages&q;:[&q;&l;div id=\&q;attachment_840160568\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-840160568\&q; src=\&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/840160568/960x0.jpg?fit=scale\&q; data-height=\&q;627\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q; /&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;Stranded vehicles sit where they got stuck in high water from Hurricane Harvey on Dairy Ashford Drive, August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Image credit:&a;nbsp;Erich Schlegel/Getty Images.&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;No hurricane, typhoon, or tropical storm, in all of recorded history, has dropped as much water on a single major city as Hurricane Harvey is in the process of doing right now in Houston, TX. The National Weather Service &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/NWS/status/902174274571689984\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;has had to create a new scale&l;/a&g; to accurately depict how much rain has fallen, as a few locations have crested the&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;three foot&l;/em&g; mark since the Hurricane first made landfall. Things aren&s;t even done yet, as the eye of the storm has taken up residence right off of the Texas coast, and large swaths of the southwest will continue to experience unprecedented, heavy rains all throughout the week. While many weather professionals are calling this a &a;quot;500-year-storm,&a;quot; indicating that there&s;s only a 0.2% of a storm like this happening in a given year, the science of how a storm like this occurs is actually very straightforward.&l;/p&g; \n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_7905\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-7905\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/DIUqn7dXUAAVo5r.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;720\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q; /&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;National Weather Service&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;The new rainfall scale created by the National Weather Service shows how much rain has fallen, as of Monday morning, in the region hit by Hurricane Harvey. The old scale capped out at &s;greater than 15 inches&s;.&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;All you need is warm ocean water and wind, and a few key ingredients can come together to create a tropical storm. There&s;s a reason that such storms (e.g., cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons) always form over equatorial regions: that&s;s where the warmest ocean water is located. When wind blows over that warm ocean water, it picks up not only heat but also moisture from the ocean. Water has more heat capacity and is far denser than air, so when the ocean is warmer than the air, it heats it up very efficiently, and causes it to rise. As it rises, it cools, which means the water-containing air will then form clouds. This is a straightforward phenomenon, but it isn&s;t enough to make a hurricane on its own.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g; \n &l;fbs-ad position=\&q;inread\&q; progressive=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/fbs-ad&g;&l;/p&g; \n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_7906\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;size-large wp-image-7906\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/cyclone_map_large-1200x632-1200x632.gif?\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;632\&q; data-width=\&q;1200\&q; /&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;NOAA / NASA / Scijinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;A map of where tropical storms form, and what the different names (typhoon, cyclone, hurricane) are that are given to the most powerful ones.&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;The warmer the ocean water is, the easier it is for that moisture-rich air to rise, cool, and provide ongoing fuel for a storm. In order to make a tropical cyclone, you need that water to be at least 80&a;ordm; F (27&a;ordm; C) for the first 50 meters (165 feet) of its depth. This is why tropical storms like hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones only form along the equatorial regions of the world; you need that warm, deep ocean water. But you also need something else: fast-moving winds. &a;nbsp;Between about 30&a;ordm; N and 30&a;ordm; S of the equator, where the water is warm enough to give rise to tropical storms, the Earth&s;s prevailing winds circulate from east to west, with northern latitudes seeing winds that blow southwest and southern latitudes having winds that blow northwest. These winds, combined with the warm temperatures, are key for creating hurricanes.&l;/p&g; \n&l;div class=\&q;vestpocket\&q; vest-pocket=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/div&g; \n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_7907\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-7907\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/Earth_Global_Circulation_-_en.svg_-1200x1002.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;802\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q; /&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;Kaidor / Wikimedia Commons&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;Earth&s;s global circulation patterns are dependent on latitude more than anything else.&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;Where you have fast-moving winds over the warm ocean, the air heats up, absorbs moisture, and rises.&a;nbsp;The warmer the water and the faster the air just above the surface moves, the faster the water evaporates, turns into water vapor, and then rises. The air and the vapor within it cool as the air rises, and eventually the vapor condenses back into clouds. Where there&s;s lots of moving air over warm water, there&s;s lots of moisture rising, and hence, thicker clouds. These cumulonimbus clouds (or, more commonly, rain clouds) will &a;quot;stack&a;quot; on top of one another, rising higher and higher, creating the origins of a tropical disturbance.&l;/p&g; \n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_7908\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;size-large wp-image-7908\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/hurricane_diagram_large-1200x1131-1200x1131.gif?\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;1131\&q; data-width=\&q;1200\&q; /&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;NASA&s;s SciJinks, via http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/hurricane/&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;The formation of a hurricane relies on warm, humid air, winds, and pressure changes.&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;Most disturbances don&s;t turn into hurricanes, but some will. If the&a;nbsp;rising&a;nbsp;warm air is then pulled into the column of clouds, while the air at the top cools, the high-altitude air can become unstable, forcing it&a;nbsp;to sink again. But it may not be able to sink fast enough. If not, the cooling water vapor releases heat, making the cloud-tops warmer, raising the air pressure and causing winds to blow outwards from the center. Finally, the cool air will fall, but this low-pressure area makes it easy for the water at the surface to evaporate and rise, creating more clouds and a larger rising, stacking area. As winds in the column start to spin faster and faster, a tropical depression, tropical storm or even a full-fledged tropical cyclone (i.e., a hurricane) can form. And so long as it remains over this warm, liquid ocean, it can continue to strengthen.&l;/p&g; \n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_7909\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-7909\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2017/08/hurricane_diagram_large.en_-1200x668.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;534\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q; /&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;NASA&s;s Space Place, via http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;The cloud cells, complete with rising and falling air, which circulates around the &s;eye&s;.&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;The worst-case scenario for a storm is where it develops in the ocean, strengthens as it moves over land, and then migrates to make landfall right where the directions of the prevailing winds change: at around 30 degrees latitude. The greatest flooding and devastation occurs when the storm&a;nbsp;either remains stationary, right on a coastal area for a long time, or when it moves&a;nbsp;along a coastal region, constantly being fed by the ocean waters as it does so. Houston, Texas, is located right at&a;nbsp;29.8&a;deg; N latitude, right by the gulf coast; it is at the right location, unfortunately, to experience this perfect type of storm. This &l;a href=\&q;http://hint.fm/wind/\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;real-time wind map of the United States&l;/a&g; shows how dire the situation is, as does the embedded video (below) &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;from the National Weather Service&l;/a&g;.&l;/p&g; \n&l;blockquote class=\&q;twitter-tweet\&q;&g; \n &l;p dir=\&q;ltr\&q; lang=\&q;en\&q;&g;Updated radar animation for &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/hashtag/Harvey?src=hash\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;#Harvey&l;/a&g; that includes the last 24 hours. The animation runs from 7 pm CDT Thu 8/24 to 1130 am CDT Mon 8/28. &l;a href=\&q;https://t.co/yBGGXnVwCj\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;pic.twitter.com/yBGGXnVwCj&l;/a&g;&l;/p&g; \n &l;p&g;— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/902216443709804544\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;August 28, 2017&l;/a&g;&l;/p&g; \n&l;/blockquote&g; \n&l;p&g;As you can see, the combination of the unusually warm water, the fact that Houston (and the hurricane&s;s eye) are right on the border of where the prevailing winds change directions from east-to-west to west-to-east, and the water-to-land boundary along the gulf coast has created the exact recipe needed for this unfolding catastrophe. Things are not going to get better anytime soon, either. According to the &l;a href=\&q;http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;NOAA National Hurricane Center&l;/a&g;:&l;/p&g; \n&l;blockquote&g; \n &l;p&g;Harvey is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 15 to 25 inches through Friday over the middle and upper Texas coast, including the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. Isolated storm totals may reach 50 inches in this region. These rains are currently producing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding, and flash flood emergencies are in effect for portions of southeastern Texas.&l;/p&g; \n&l;/blockquote&g; \n&l;p&g;Yes, climate change likely played a role in this event, as &l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/07/26/heartlands-6-reasons-to-be-a-climate-change-skeptic-are-six-demonstrable-lies/\&q; target=\&q;_self\&q;&g;fewer, more intense hurricanes, coupled with sea level rise&l;/a&g;, are being borne out, exactly as predicted. Unfortunately, this likely means that &a;quot;once every 500 years&a;quot; is likely to be very wrong, as the Hurricane Katrinas, Sandys, and Harveys of this world are only going to become more common moving forward.&l;/p&g;&q;],&q;channelSectionMappings&q;:[{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Tech&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/technology/&q;},{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_3section_16&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Tech&q;,&q;sectionName&q;:&q;Science&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/science&q;}],&q;blogId&q;:&q;4033&q;,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;pTagCount&q;:13,&q;hashtags&q;:[&q;WhoaScience&q;],&q;hideDescription&q;:false,&q;sponsored&q;:false,&q;doNotPaginate&q;:true,&q;editorsPick&q;:false,&q;sentimentScore&q;:-0.380663,&q;numberOfImages&q;:6,&q;relativeVideo&q;:{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5379448846001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Take A Peek at NASA’s Massive James Webb Space 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