When Dryness Intrudes, Floods Ensue

In 2018, in the Indian state of Kerala, more than 400 people died in a single series of floods that displaced millions. Flooding is a regular feature of the yearly monsoon season in tropical Asia, but until now it has been difficult to predict how and when the normally heavy monsoon rainfall would ratchet up into a nightmare event of severe flooding. New research by a Weizmann Institute of Science research group may broaden the forecast window by pointing to an event – surprisingly, the arrival of dry air – that may presage extra-strong rains.