2 Big Factors Made Harvey So Potent

By John Johnson

August 28, 2017

For information on how you can help those affected by Hurricane Harvey, head over to the official website for the American Red Cross.

Meteorologists seem to be running out of adjectives to describe the devastation of Harvey, with phrases such as "beyond anything experienced" and "1-in-1,000 year event" being thrown around.

But why is Harvey so bad? The New York Times explains that it involves an unusual combination of factors, the main ones being unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico and weak winds in the upper atmosphere that have allowed the storm to essentially park in place.

On top of that, Galveston Bay is elevated because of the storm surge, which means the copious amount of rain falling on Houston isn't draining. "A 2- or 3-foot storm surge alone would not have been catastrophic," a storm surge expert tells the newspaper. "It was all these ingredients coming together."

Read the full story on Newser.com