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Climate chronicles

Precipitation extremes in 2023

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 5, pages 250–252 (2024)Cite this article

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2023 saw a multitude of extreme precipitation events across the globe, causing flash flooding, countless fatalities and huge economic losses. Fuelled by a combination of a strong El Niño, record ocean warmth and anthropogenic warming, these events highlight the ongoing risks posed by extreme precipitation in a warming climate.

Key points

  • A blocked wave pattern in September caused slow-moving cut-off lows that drenched Europe; Storm Daniel deposited >1,000 mm rainfall in Thessaly, Greece, over a 24-hour period.

  • Tropical cyclones drove extreme rainfall across many global regions; Tropical Cyclone Freddy inundated parts of Mozambique with 400–800 mm rainfall in 24 hours.

  • A high number of severe convective storms caused flash flooding in many locations; Hebei Province, China, recorded rainfall totals >1,000 mm in 3 days.

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Fig. 1: Time series of precipitation extreme events in 2023.

References

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Acknowledgements

H.J.F. was supported by the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water funded by UKRI (NE/Y006496/1) and NSFGEO-NERC: HUrricane Risk Amplification and Changing North Atlantic Natural disasters (Huracan) funded by NERC (NE/W009587/1); H.J.F. and A.G. were supported by IMPETUS4CHANGE funded by HORIZON-CL5-2022-D1-02 (Grant agreement ID: 101081555) and the UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee (10047737).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Hayley J. Fowler, Stephen Blenkinsop, Amy Green & Paul A. Davies

  2. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Hayley J. Fowler, Stephen Blenkinsop & Amy Green

  3. UK Meteorological Office, Exeter, UK

    Paul A. Davies

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  1. Hayley J. Fowler
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  2. Stephen Blenkinsop
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  4. Paul A. Davies
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Correspondence to Hayley J. Fowler.

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Fowler, H.J., Blenkinsop, S., Green, A. et al. Precipitation extremes in 2023. Nat Rev Earth Environ 5, 250–252 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00547-9

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