The science behind the record-breaking winter rainstorm that deluged Washington this weekend

[elleng]

'The first drops arrived around sunset on Friday, and for a time on Sunday it seemed the rain would never end. When all was done, most of the D.C. area had picked up about two to four inches of rain. The drenching clinched Washington’s wettest year on record with exclamation.

This much rain was enough for renewed flooding and other assorted troubles that accompany repeated downpours.

The 3.44 inches of rain that poured down on Washington between Friday and Sunday marked its highest three-day amount on record for the winter months of December through February. It pushed 2018′s total to 64.22 inches in the city, two feet above the long-term average.

Such a storm deserves a proper dissection. Let’s start with how much it rained.

The heaviest rainfall was concentrated in the heart of the metro region, with widespread totals of 2.5 to 3.5 inches and even higher amounts just west of the District. The heaviest rains were somewhat intermittent, cycling through in waves Saturday and Saturday night. Rain fell at varying intensities for 45 straight hours between late Friday afternoon and early Sunday afternoon.

What caused such massive rain totals?

A triad of meteorological factors help explain why it rained so much.'>>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2018/12/17/science-behind-record-breaking-winter-rainstorm-that-deluged-dc-region-this-weekend/?

[mr_lebowski]

1. Given the issues with the opposite in the Pacific Southwest ...

With Colorado River/Lakes Mead and Powell being dangerously low, we as a Nation might seriously have to start considering a massive H2O pipeline/canal project to move water from the areas being drenched by climate change ... to the Southwest.

Would be a massive jobs program, too.

Could turn out desalinization is a better option, but I think both are worth considering.

[Downtown Hound]

2. If we can build oil pipelines

We can certainly do them for water.

[mr_lebowski]

3. One would think, yes. However, it's a much different equation on the 'supply side'

You're dealing with watersheds (very widely spread regions) as opposed to 'wells' ... which are in specific, much more concentrated locations.

The 'tech', in a certain sense, and 'scale' for almost certain, could be vastly different as a result.

[LakeSuperiorView]

4. Trying to fight nature...

May be easier to let people relocate out of deserts.

As far as infrastructure projects, we could consider sacrificing Death Valley and flood it with ocean water. It would eventually become a sea level salt flat, but the evaporation would fuel rain fall from there downwind. Much shorter pipelines than trying to go coast to coast - a single storm event in DC isn't going to do much for the water needs of the desert Southwest.