2025 is rapidly earning the grim title of “The Year of the Flood” in the United States, as record-breaking rainfall and deadly flash floods continue to sweep across the country. So far, National Weather Service (NWS) offices have issued 3,358 Flash Flood Warnings this year (as of July 20), more than 250 ahead of any previous year on record (1998) to date. The US has already surpassed its annual average for flash flood reports, with more than double the typical number seen by mid-July.

The devastation has been particularly acute in Texas, where catastrophic flooding of the Guadalupe River, especially over the July 4 weekend in the Hill Country, has claimed at least 145 lives, making it the deadliest non-tropical cyclone-related flood event in the US since 1976. Flash floods have also wreaked havoc in Ruidoso, New Mexico, Chicago, New York City, and parts of North Carolina and New Jersey.

Much of this flooding has been triggered by slow-moving storms dumping excessive rainfall in short periods of time. Combined with contributing factors like topography, dry soil from droughts, and urban development, the result has been sudden, powerful flash floods in both rural and urban areas.

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And the threat isn’t over. Abnormally high levels of atmospheric moisture are forecast to persist across the Central and Eastern US for at least two more weeks, raising the risk of more flash flooding. A developing tropical system could bring up to eight inches of rain to coastal Louisiana, prompting concerns of yet another major flooding event. Climate scientists say events like these are being amplified by climate change, which enables warmer air to hold more moisture, leading to more intense and frequent rainstorms.

As meteorologist Michael Lowry put it, “2025 has been the year of the flood.”

‘year of the flood:’ us sets record for flash flood warnings in 2025 amid widespread devastation