Emergency responders say better tools and preparation played life-saving roles after intense storms dropped heavy amounts of rain.

Severe storms have dumped over 20 inches of rain in parts of Texas, causing significant flooding.

Intense rainstorms are becoming more frequent in most of the U.S. — though experts say where they occur and whether they cause catastrophic flooding is largely a matter of chance.

Sweltering heat more commonly seen in the throes of summer than in the spring is making an unwelcome visit to a large portion of the U.S. – from the Dakotas to Texas and other parts of the South – prompting forecasters to tell residents to use caution outside.

Climate scientists say that extreme rain and drought are likely to become more common due to climate change.

Editor’s Note: This story was published through a partnership with Texas Community Health News and KSAT. You can read this story and more on the Texas Community Health News website.

A new Texas A&M climate report shows a dramatic rise in 100-degree days, while the dangers posed by hurricanes, droughts and other extreme weather conditions are growing.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data shows that average temperatures in 2023 were 3.5 degrees above the 20th century average.

After a long summer of extreme heat, Texas has been battered by a lingering drought that’s damaging crops, drying up water supplies and causing wildfires.

Hotter days and nights. More record highs. Climate change has shifted the entire range of Texas heat upwards.

Scorching temperatures meteorologists say were brought on by a heat dome have taxed the Texas power grid and threaten to bring record highs to the state before they are expected to expand to other parts of the U.S. National Weather Service Forecaster Bob Oravec said Monday that the heat dome is expected to reach north to Kansas City and east to the Florida Panhandle and continue at least until the July Fourth holiday.

Corpus Christi logged a heat index of 125 degrees at one point in the past week, as Laredo, Del Rio, San Angelo and Junction also set new highs.

The drought will likely continue into the fall and winter.

The agency says there’s a 65% chance the Atlantic’s hurricane season will be busier than normal and predicts three to six major hurricanes.

Climate change has made the Texas heat hotter and longer-lasting, enhancing drought conditions that set the stage for intense fires. More than 40% of the state is in an extreme drought.

Winter Storm Uri was the event’s official name, though it was nicknamed Snowmaggedon. Uri dragged an arctic wrecking ball southward through the nation in mid-February, leaving at least 223 people dead, 210 of them perishing in Texas.

Ongoing La Niña conditions have brought warm, dry weather and deepened drought conditions across the state.

A report from the state climatologist finds that the state is experiencing hotter days with less relief from high temperatures at night.

Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said that, in some cases, the effects of global warming could be even more extreme in Texas.

Texas’ biggest fix to February’s deadly winter blackout that left more than 4 million people without power puts more focus on projections by the state’s climatologist but does not dwell on climate change after a deep freeze buckled the state’s unprepared electric grid.

It's become a hot button topic. But at its core, climate change is a scientific issue, not a political one.