Did Harvey have "More Moisture" than other storms?
Posted by
Gianmarc on 8/28/2017, 5:42 pm
Ira Flatow, host of Science Friday, said on Twitter yesterday that what we are seeing with Harvey is a storm that had "more moisture" in it due to global warming. I am certain that the nightmare unfolding in Houston is attributable to climate change, but I'm less educated about the contention that Harvey somehow had "more moisture." So, any perspective on this would be welcome. It's my understanding that the excessive rainfall Harvey has dumped on Houston is a result of its stalled motion, which has forced its associated heavy rainfall over the same areas for days on end. The idea that actually the excessive rainfall is a result of some greater abundance of moisture inherent to this particular storm is new to me. It makes me wonder if Tropical Storm Alison dumped as much rain on SE Texas as it did because it had "more moisture" or because it sat over the same area for many days? I'm scratching my head over this one because it seems to me that any Category 4 hurricane as Harvey was is going to contain an ungodly amount of moisture. So if Harvey had "more moisture" I am wondering what the basis of comparison is. Did it have "more moisture" than an equivalent storm (Cat 4) already would be expected to contain? Did it have even "more moisture" than a technically more intense storm such as Andrew was at landfall? Only thing I can think of is that the surface temps in the Gulf right now are absurdly warm, warmer than normal even for late August, and I have no doubt that that anomaly is attributable to climate chang and responsible for Harvey's moisture content.
Anyway, I would love to have some thoughts on this from the collection of very smart people we have on this board. |
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Did Harvey have "More Moisture" than other storms? - Gianmarc, 8/28/2017, 5:42 pm Post A Reply
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