If you think the weather in New Jersey seems to be more extreme than it used to be, you are right.

Thunderstorms near the shore
Thunderstorms near the shore (Facebook via NE Emergency News & WX Feed)
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Earlier this spring it was dry and unusually cold, then temperatures shot up into the 90's, then severe monsoon-like storms pounded the Garden State twice this week, causing rivers to rise and small streams and urban flooding problems all over Jersey.

"It does seem as if the atmosphere is more amped-up these days, and the very fact is we are warmer than we ever have been before. We've had our fair share of floods, we had Sandy, we had Irene, and we've had some notably severe winters," says New Jersey State climatologist Dave Robinson.

He points out ever since Hurricane Floyd lashed Jersey 13.5 years ago, we've seen an increased amount of flooding, including the Delaware River in 2004, 2005, 2006, the Raritan and Passaic basins in 2007, and then in 2010, there was widespread flooding with Irene.

"We're seeing this propensity for flooding at all different times of the year," says Robinson, "simply due to too much rain in too short a period of time."

He adds the trend may continue because we're expecting the sea level to rise, perhaps as much as foot by the middle of the century, so flooding problems will only get worse.

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