Cities are hot. The fact that urban areas tend to be warmer than their surrounding region — a phenomenon called the heat island effect — is well-known to scientists as well as pretty much anyone who has endured a sweltering summer in a concrete jungle. But scientists are now discovering that cities are often more rainy, too. Most cities receive significantly more rain than the nearby rural regions, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an effect that has become more pronounced over the past two decades as the climate has warmed.

Related study:

• NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science: Robust future intensification of winter precipitation over the United States