Hurricane Florence weakened, but is still expected to have a major impact. Photo / AP
Hurricane Florence is an almost impossibly rare threat. A storm this powerful is exceedingly rare so far north on the east coast of the United States.
Never before has a hurricane threatened the East Coast with nearly 1.2m of rainfall. In just two cases since our records began in
1851 — Hazel in 1954 and Hugo in 1989 — has a Carolina hurricane provoked a 5.5m rise in the ocean tide.
In my two decades as a meteorologist, I can't recall a single storm that threatened new all-time records in all three of these, simultaneously, anywhere in the world. Despite what some of my more hesitant colleagues might say, you can connect individual weather events to climate change in this day and age.
Quite simply, Hurricane Florence is a storm made worse by climate change.
A warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapour — producing heavier downpours and providing more energy to hurricanes, boosting their destructive potential.
