The torrential rainfall in Texas last week was the result of a stalled remnant of Tropical Storm Imelda. The torrential rainfall in northeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota Friday night was the result of a slow-moving complex of heavy thunderstorms. global climate change should not be considered the reason either of these floods happened, at least not when these storms are considered on their own. Such floods have happened before and would happen again, with or without climate change.
However, the frequency of flooding in general has been increasing across the United States and around the world due to warmer ocean temperatures and increasing atmospheric water vapor caused by the warming atmosphere. In other words, climate change. Certainly, the recent chemical changes to the atmosphere may have had an effect on either or both storms, but not in such a way as to make either storm unique to today's climate. The distinction here is in the fundamental difference between weather and climate.
