The Guardian, on Climate, 25 October 2026

6.0out of 10Serious

US south-west braces for more storms after enduring days of rain and flooding

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Another round of heavy showers and thunderstorms were expected to hit the south-west US on Sunday after the region endured days of rain that forced evacuations, water rescues and multi-million-dollar damage. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for much of the Four Corners – the meeting point of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah – even as local officials forecast further receding of swollen rivers that surged since rains picked up on Wednesday.

About 4ft (1 meter) of water flooded the home of Shane Ferrari, the sheriff of San Juan county, New Mexico . He said the area’s situation was stable on Sunday, but he and other residents were trying to clean up and deal with damage. View image in fullscreen Flooding in the Gould Wash drainage watercourse in Hurricane, Utah, on Thursday. Photograph: Landon Christensen/AP The New Mexico governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, said in a statement on Saturday that law enforcement had reported hundreds of water rescues between the cities of Farmington and Bloomfield.

“Families in Bloomfield and Farmington spent the night on rooftops watching the river flood their homes, and our national guard and state police crews have been bringing them to safety,” said Lujan Grisham. “Right now, our focus is saving lives. If you’re told to evacuate, go. Once the water recedes, the state will do everything in its power to help San Juan county families rebuild.” “No deaths have been reported,” she added. The San Juan River in Farmington on Friday ran 2 ft above its previous record set in 1909.

San Juan county spokesperson Devin Neeley said the county did not have official numbers on damage to homes or the number of people evacuated, but he was not aware of any loss of life. Neeley said the flood waters were receding but left mud and silt, much of which has been contaminated with sewage because of failures at waste plants. There were still power outages affecting multiple areas, and it would probably be a few days until residents got their power back on.

“It’s a pretty active disaster zone,” he said. “We’re not on the downswing by any means.” The flooding is just the latest from . After months of drought, other recent deadly flooding struck the Grand Canyon and areas of New Mexico. View image in fullscreen Pickup trucks are submerged along Highway 160 in South Fork, Colorado, on Friday. Photograph: South Fork Fire Rescue/AP Explore more on these topics US weather Flooding New Mexico Colorado Arizona Utah Extreme weather news Share Reuse this content

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What we found (1)

The Guardian gives a clear, well-sourced account of days of flooding across the Four Corners region, with rescues, record river levels, sewage-contaminated silt and power cuts. It explains the rain only as tropical moisture from the Pacific and never tells the reader that a warming climate makes heavy rainfall like this more frequent and more intense.

  1. Leaves out the climate link

    Serious

    “two months of on-and-off heavy rain caused by tropical moisture coming ashore from the Pacific”

    Why this matters
    The words "caused by tropical moisture coming ashore from the Pacific" are the article's only explanation for the rain. They present the record flooding as a weather pattern and nothing more.
    The impression it gives
    A reader comes away thinking these floods, which pushed the San Juan River 2ft above a record set in 1909, are a matter of seasonal weather alone, with no link to a warming planet.
    The context
    Human-caused warming has made heavy rainfall events more frequent and more severe. The article reports record river levels, hundreds of rescues and months of drought followed by flooding, yet nowhere says warming is loading the dice. One short line would have given the reader that context.

    How we know

    • On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • On the recordIt is unequivocal that human influence, chiefly the burning of fossil fuels, has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “warming”.
    • Elsewhere in the article“ran 2 ft above its previous record set in 1909”

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    The flooding is the latest from two months of on-and-off heavy rain driven by tropical moisture from the Pacific. Human-caused warming is making heavy rainfall like this more frequent and more intense.

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