How climate change influenced the Texas flooding

Historic flooding unfolded in an instant in the Texas Hill Country Friday.

It's in an area referred to as Flash Flood Alley, because of the terrain's ability to funnel rainfall down into the waterways, allowing them to rapidly rise.

This was an exceptional event, however. There was leftover tropical moisture from Barry, a tropical storm that made landfall in Mexico earlier in the week.

Steering winds were very slow, allowing these downpours to sit over concentrated areas for a while.

Total rainfall was up to 20 inches and the Guadalupe River rose 30 feet in a matter of a couple hours.

"So, not to say that this weather event was made by climate change. The tropical remnants were there, the moisture was there, so this would have likely been a heavy rain event," Shel Winkley, a meteorologist with Climate Central, said.

"There was the potential that this could have created flooding anyway. But climate change is basically that last, 'But why did this happen?' So, we know a warmer atmosphere is a greedier atmosphere, it can hold more moisture, which means that weather systems can tap into that and produce not only more rainfall, but more intense rainfall," she continued.

Scientists with ClimaMeter, in Europe, did what's called a rapid attribution report, and they calculated this storm dropped 7% more rain than it would have otherwise, if our atmosphere wasn't so hot.

There was also low-level wind from off the Gulf, which is one to two degrees warmer than average right now, and that made this weather event wetter.

"This part of Texas is an area that has already been identified, take the city of Austin, over the last 50 to 55 years, they've seen an increase of their heaviest rain events, that rainfall intensity has grown by about 19%," Winkley said.

"So, we know that the rain events in this part of Texas are becoming fewer and farther between, this was an area under extreme drought before these rains happened over the weekend. We know that when the rain events occur, they are happening to a more extreme level and more intense level," she continued.