Welcome to Locally Sourced, a biweekly Covering Climate Now newsletter for journalists working to localize the climate story. Share this newsletter with colleagues and journalism students interested in localizing the climate story.
Story Spark: Severe Storms
The relationship between climate change and powerful thunderstorms is complex and still evolving. But the key basics are clear: A warmer atmosphere provides more energy for storms increasing the threat of damaging winds, huge hail, and devastating tornadoes.
But the climate link doesn’t end there: Oceans absorb over 90% of Earth’s excess heat, which in turn allows for more moist, warm, and unstable air to move inland and fuel storms. This warming on land and at sea has fundamentally changed where and when the most destructive storms form. The most notable pattern shift — perhaps other than lightning being reported near the North Pole — is that “Tornado Alley” is migrating east, placing more vulnerable, less storm-ready communities at risk.
While attribution studies are needed to quantify climate change’s fingerprint on a singular storm, newsrooms can help audiences understand not only how spring storm trends are changing but also their vast economic impact. In 2025, severe weather in the US — from a devastating wind storm that hit the Northeast to a string of tornado outbreaks — made up 91% of the 23 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters.
Expert Tips
Shel Winkley, a meteorologist and Weather & Climate Engagement Specialist at Climate Central, shares tips for connecting a warming atmosphere to the upcoming severe weather season’s climate story.
Severe storms are breaking records — and the bills are piling up. Severe storms are the most frequent type of billion-dollar weather and climate disaster, accounting for more than half of all such events since 1980 — including a record 21 last year alone, concentrated in a series of spring and summer tornado outbreaks across the central US. Severe storms are also the leading cause of all weather-related power outages across the country. When covering these events, highlight these trends to make the climate connection; your state’s billion-dollar count is a great place to start.
As our atmosphere warms, thunderstorms are breathing harder. Thunderstorm straight-line winds are the most common severe weather hazard — and they’re getting stronger. Research shows that in the central US, wind speeds have intensified 7% for every 1 degree Fahrenheit of warming between 1980 and 2020. The reason? Warmer air holds more moisture, creating stronger storm updrafts. Heavier rain enhances evaporative cooling, pulling air downward faster and ramping up wind speeds and damage potential. Looking ahead, large straight-line wind systems known as derechos are projected to become more frequent, widespread, and intense across the central and eastern US as warming from heat-trapping pollution continues.
Where and when storms strike are shifting. Since 1979, parts of the Eastern US have gained roughly 15 more days per year with the atmospheric ingredients needed for thunderstorm development. “Tornado Alley” has shifted eastward into the South, Southeast, and Ohio Valley. While the number of US tornadoes each year hasn’t changed, tornado activity has become concentrated in more frequent outbreaks. Another trend worth noting: Over the last 140 years, daytime tornado fatalities have dropped 20%, while overnight fatalities — when people are asleep and less likely to receive warnings — have quadrupled. As you prepare your audience for an overnight storm threat, remember the connections you make during the day might be what saves a life at night.
Stories We Like
- As the planet warms, extremely costly hailstorms are becoming more common — leading to skyrocketing home insurance prices across the central US, NPR reports.
- In Spain, where almost a year’s worth of rain fell in a single week, and Portugal, where devastating winds added to the damage, recent storms have battered Western Europe in a pattern that scientists suggest will only become more common, the Guardian reports. .
- The Tennessee Lookout highlights an attribution study which showed that storms that were inundating the state were made nearly 10% more intense due to climate change.
- Radio New Zealand investigates whether climate change had a role in wild spring weather, which included historic wind-driven storms.
- In Illinois, which had more tornadoes than any other state in the US last year, CBS Chicago digs into why “Tornado Alley” is shifting into the Midwest.
- Inside Climate News explores how the impacts of severe weather linger long after storms clear and highlights how a rural town in Maine is building resiliency for a wetter, warmer future.
Resources
- Sign up for Climate Central’s newsletters and World Weather Attribution’s mailing list to be notified of new research into climate change’s influence on weather events.
- Explore the comprehensive database of “Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters” going back to 1980.
- Analyze how warming spring temperatures are driving changes to storms in your area with new data from Climate Central.
Experts
- Andreas Prein, Professor, ETH Zurich
- Victor Gensini, Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Convective Storms (CIRCS)
- Maria Molina, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland
- Your local National Weather Service office or State Climate Office
Before We Go…
Get ready before spring storms strike. Check out CCNow and Climate Central’s Prep Your Climate Coverage webinar to better understand climate change’s influence on spring weather and find vetted language to make the climate connection in your own reporting.
The next Locally Sourced will highlight allergies. Have you reported on how allergy seasons are becoming longer and more intense due to climate change? Send them to us at local[at]coveringclimatenow[dot]org. We’d love to consider them for the next edition of Locally Sourced and our media trainings and social platforms.
Want more story ideas? Check out the Locally Sourced archive for more topics to explore, including AI data centers, coastal flooding, air transportation, and more.
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