Harvey is trapped close enough to the Gulf that its able to siphon an endless supply of energy and moisture from exceptionally warm waters, which are also likely to have contributed to the storms rapid intensification last week. Unfortunately, some weather models are now showing that Harvey could drift back out to sea over the next few days, re intensifying a bit before hammering the coastline again. According to Klotzbach, theclosest analog may be tropical storm Allison 2. Texas and Louisiana for several days, dropping over 4. Houston. That storm, which flooded more than 7. Harvey. Events like this always cause folks to ask about the connection between hurricanes and climate change. The science is still evolving, and the answer is not simplewhile theory suggests that higher sea surface temperatures will yield more intense storms, whether were actually seeing an uptick in cyclone intensity worldwide is unclear. The trend signal has not yet had time to rise above the background variability of natural processes, according to a recent draft of the National Climate Assessment. Still, climate scientists generally agree that elevated sea surface and air temperatures play a role in intensifying storms, so it wouldnt be a shock if future attribution studies linked features of Harvey to rising temperatures. And storm surgesone of the most dangerous aspects of tropical cyclones in terms of life and propertyare being made worse by sea level rise.