Why was Texas so stormy this spring?

[-Apples-]

As the spring months are about to end, I have a question related to the strange weather we experienced. Compared to the previous years, Texas (at least the east side) has been unusually rainier and stormier this year, more particularly in the spring. Every time a rainy day is over, another rainy day comes back. It’s at its worst this month if you consider the facts:

• Three times, there was a power outage at my house this month, two of them lasting over 12 hours.
• The city of Houston faced a violent windstorm that left thousands without power for over a week and left tons of debris.
• More tornadoes, obviously.
• Just recently, the Dallas area faced an unusually strong thunderstorm.

What is going on? Why is Texas stormier this year?

 

[SkyKnight03]

I can't answer for Texas specifically, but I can concur about the explosive weather that seems to be sweeping through different areas.

My brother lives near Omaha NE, and has been talking about extreme tornadoes causing havoc.

 

[nightglow]

Not dismissing it, but there are rainer years than normal that happen sometimes. Maybe that was this year. And with all the trees people cut down, it effects weather. Trees are underestimated on importance. I'm sure there are other possible factors, but little things like that can change or even make weather worse.

 

[Kitsuragi]

early 2024 was active El Nino cycle.

What is the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in a nutshell?

Though ENSO is a single climate phenomenon, it has three states, or phases, it can be in. The two opposite phases, “El Niño” and “La Niña,” require certain changes in both the ocean and the atmosphere because ENSO is a coupled climate phenomenon. “Neutral” is in the middle of the continuum.

www.climate.gov

What are El Nino and La Nina?

El El Nino and La Nina are complex weather patterns resulting from variations in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific.

oceanservice.noaa.gov

Information about the El Nino and La Nina cycles

When La Niña exists (cold Pacific waters), precipitation drops significantly. During El Niño (warm Pacific waters), precipitation increases significantly.

TL;DR, warm winds from the pacific blow east, bringing much more moisture to the south but warmer/dryer conditions to the north. this is because the pacific jet stream moves further southward, bringing in rain.

the end of this summer is predicted to bring La Nina which is going to bring dryer conditions to the south, and wetter (and possibly cooler than average) conditions to the north.

Climate Prediction Center: ENSO Diagnostic Discussion

 

[Neb]

I'm in Oregon, halfway across the country from Texas, but the weather this year has been very strange for my area too. Winter never really ended until May and was still very cold during the day. In some parts of my county it snowed last week. Sometimes throughout the second cold season there'd be one or two mild or slightly warm days in between endless cold ones. We're also supposed to get over 300 days of sun per year, but instead we've gotten tons of overcast days. The inconsistency was annoying, but I love cold and overcast weather so I was really enjoying it. Now that the weather is back to normal for Spring around here I'm starting to get my typical reverse seasonal depression I get late Spring through early Fall.