Rainfall across much of California and the West has become more clustered in heavier storms, with longer dry spells in between. The net effect is a drying out, researchers found in a new study. It isn’t just the western United States; the same is true in much of the rest of the world. The research is the first to reveal how this concentration of rainfall into fewer, heavier events dries out the landscape. … The trend is less clear in Southern California and more pronounced in the North. The America West is one of the places where rainfall has become most clustered or concentrated. The analysis, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, offers new insight into how rainfall is shifting as the climate warms.

Other climate science news:

• Inside Climate News: New paper shows surges of concentrated precipitation can lead to dryer landscapes​​
• Courthouse News: More rain doesn’t mean fewer droughts