Pittsburgh seeing heavier rainfall more frequently

PITTSBURGH — Raining in buckets. At least it seems like it much of this year. We’ve already seen five days this year with more than an inch of rain, and it’s not even the end of May.

Heavy rain days are becoming more common over the past 30 years with Pittsburgh averaging nearly seven days a year when more than an inch of rain falls. That might not seem significant, but that’s up 10% in the last 10 years and 15% in the last 20 years.

The impacts range from more outdoor and sporting event cancellations to a greater stress on area hillsides leading to more erosion and landslide issues. We already live in an area prone to flooding due to our quick changes in elevation. Heavier rain on more days only leads to more concern for high water issues in those spots most likely to already see flooding.