Climate change brings more intense rain to Cleveland: What records show

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland has seen more rain than usual this year — but it hasn’t come gently. Instead of steady, soaking showers, the city’s rainfall has increasingly arrived in sudden, intense downpours that can overwhelm storm drains and flood streets in minutes.

While cities along the East Coast and in Texas have faced record-breaking flash floods, Cleveland’s own precipitation records reveal a similar trend: When it rains, it rains harder.

Of the city’s 10 wettest days on record, five have occurred since 2000. That shift reflects a national pattern fueled by climate change, as warmer air holds more moisture and delivers it in shorter, heavier bursts.

Even in a region known more for lake effect snow than summer floods, the data shows Northeast Ohio is seeing a wetter — and more volatile — reality unfold.

What are the rainiest days on record?

Of Cleveland’s 10 rainiest days on record, five have occurred since 2000. That includes two separate 3.5-inch deluges just weeks apart in 2011, and a recent near-record storm in September 2020.

Here’s a look at the Top 10 rainiest days at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, according to records dating back to 1938:

1. Sept. 7, 1996: 4.59 inches
2. Sept. 7, 2020: 3.98 inches
3. Aug. 20, 2005: 3.55 inches
4. Aug. 13, 1994: 3.55 inches
5. June 24, 2014: 3.54 inches
6. July 19, 2011: 3.54 inches
7. Aug. 14, 2011: 3.51 inches
8. May 24, 1955: 3.36 inches
9. Oct. 15, 1954: 3.36 inches
10. Sept. 12, 1938: 3.34 inches

Since 1938, Cleveland has seen 61 days where 2 inches or more of rain fell in a single day. While those days are still relatively rare, they’re becoming more frequent. Of those days, 25 have occurred since 2000, a stretch that accounts for about a third of the historical record.

The increase mirrors what climate scientists are seeing across the country — extreme rainfall events are happening more often as warmer air holds and dumps more moisture in shorter bursts.

Wetter-than-normal so far in 2025

Cleveland is already running wetter than usual in 2025. Through June, Cuyahoga County has received about 4 inches more precipitation than the historical average for this point in the year, according to data from the National Integrated Drought Information System.

That makes 2025 the 16th wettest year to date over the past 131 years, according to records.

Precipitation totals for each full month compared to their historic averages in 2025 were:

• January: 1.98 inches (2.99 inches)
• February: 3.04 inches (2.49 inches)
• March: 2.71 inches (3.06 inches)
• April: 4.72 inches (3.75 inches)
• May: 5.30 inches (3.79 inches)
• June: 5.12 inches (3.83 inches)

The impact of climate change

Climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense, according to climate scientists and government data.

The 10-year summer average of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate extreme index, which tracks hurricanes, heavy rain, droughts and high and low temperatures across the contiguous U.S., is 58% higher than it was in the 1980s.

Although it can be difficult to attribute a single weather event to climate change, experts say a warming atmosphere and oceans due to the burning of fossil fuels make catastrophic storms more likely.

That’s because the atmosphere can hold 7% more water for every degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), creating a giant sponge of sorts that sucks up moisture from bodies of water and vegetation. The moisture later falls back to earth in increasingly intense, unpredictable and destructive downpours.

“It’s just loading the dice toward heavy rainfall when the situation is right,” said Kenneth Kunkel, a climate scientist at North Carolina State University.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.