A groundbreaking study on future precipitation in the Bay Area has found that extreme storms may become more commonplace in the coming decades, bringing torrential rains and infrastructure damage to the region.
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According to the study conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, by 2100 the Bay Area could see up to a 37% increase in rainfall during large storm events.
Michael Wehner, a senior scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, emphasized the unique nature of the study to KCBS Radio. "This is the first time that a city has contracted a national laboratory to try to answer questions that they have," he said.
The question climate experts were trying to answer was, as the Bay Area warms, what will happen to rainfall?
Through convection-permitting regional climate model simulations, scientists discovered that extreme precipitation, like the atmospheric river the Bay Area experienced in October, is projected to increase up to 1.5 times
"If there's more humidity, you would expect there to be more precipitation. Well, the surprising part is the increase of precipitation is quite a bit greater than the increase of the humidity alone," Wehner said.
That does mean more rain, however, it's not the type of rain locals are used to. "The storms are more efficient at precipitating out," he explained.
Bomb cyclones could wreak havoc on the city's water system, causing major flooding.
Dennis Herrera, a spokesperson with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, told KCBS Radio he hopes the study's findings will help the city better prepare for the future. "We have so much infrastructure that is exposed to the elements," he said.
The commission is now developing a guidebook to ensure the city's critical infrastructure is protected as storms intensify.
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