How Warming Is Affecting Northern Storms Like Henri

Tropical Storm Henri struck Rhode Island yesterday afternoon with 60-mph winds, making it the first named storm to hit the state in 30 years.

That was a rare occurrence in the Northeast, where most hurricane-force storms weaken over cooler waters or get pushed into the Atlantic by easterly winds. Those that do strike Northern states are almost never major storms by the time they hit.

Henri brought heavy rainfall and power outages from New York and New Jersey through New England. New York City received 1.94 inches of rain between 10 and 11 p.m. Saturday night, marking its wettest single hour in recorded history.

Those impacts came as Henri traversed an unusual path over the weekend. It gained strength as it moved north toward the New England coastline on Saturday and briefly achieved hurricane status. It was downgraded back to a tropical storm yesterday morning before plunging ashore.

That makes Henri a remarkable storm in a summer marked by extraordinary weather events, from record-shattering heat waves in the western U.S. to catastrophic floods in Europe, China and India. Scientists say many of these extreme events have been influenced by climate change, and that they offer glimpses into the future of a warming world.

Is that what drove Henri’s bizarre behavior?

Yes and no.

Scientists have found that tropical cyclones are migrating closer to the poles over time. In parts of the Northern Hemisphere, that means storms are wandering farther north as the oceans warm.