A single cyclone can drop over 2 trillion gallons of rain in just 24 hours.

Tropical cyclones act as giant heat engines fueled by the evaporation of warm ocean water. When sea surface temperatures exceed 26.5 degrees Celsius, moisture rises and condenses, releasing latent heat that powers the storm. This process allows a mature hurricane to process staggering amounts of water vapor. For instance, Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dropped an estimated 33 trillion gallons of water over Texas and Louisiana during its multi-day duration.The volume of rain produced by these storms is difficult to visualize. To put it in perspective, 2 trillion gallons of water is enough to fill 3 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. This weight is not just a surface-level issue. Researchers from the California Institute of Technology and NASA used GPS data to track the physical impact of this water on the planet's surface.The study, led by geophysicist Chris Milliner, found that the 127 billion tons of water from Harvey actually compressed the Earth's crust. This elastic deformation caused the ground in the Houston area to sink by approximately 2 centimeters. Once the floodwaters receded and drained into the Gulf of Mexico, the crust gradually rebounded to its original position. This phenomenon highlights the incredible mass and power contained within a single weather system.