国际英语新闻：New York witnesses active severe weather season this summer, expert says

NEW YORK, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- New York has experienced a state-wide active severe weather season this summer, a weather expert said Friday.

"It has been an active severe weather season here in New York. We have seen some unusual things, for example, the tornado in the Bronx in July, the excessive summer heat in New York City since June, the severe thunderstorm in central New York in August," Sean Potter, a communications specialist with the National Weather Service, told Xinhua.

The tornado in Bronx was the second one confirmed in the area since September 1974. This July was also the second warmest on record in New York City in more than a decade. The temperatures could be above average again for August.

Potter said the severe weather season was expected by experts. A deep layer of high pressure dominated much of the eastern United States, bringing a southerly influx of warm air, which contributed to record high temperatures.

New York is not alone to experience the severe weather season. The tornado in Connecticut in June was the second confirmed in the region since 1876. The historic flooding in Iowa in August also added the Midwest to the national hit list.

Worldwide, the Russia's heat wave and wildfires, the record deluge devastating Pakistan and the ice chunk breaking off Greenland glacier all make people more aware of the troubling climate change.

Though experts shy away from attributing any single extreme event to global warming, they see an urgent need for better ways to forecast extreme events to keep local residents informed and prepared.