I thought Global Warming was going to be gradual.?

Relative to what is likely to happen later in your lifetime, these things ARE gradual. Disastrous weather is nothing new by the way. Climate change increases the frequency and severity of severe weather, but climate and weather are two different things. Climate is like Axel Rodriguez having a career batting average of .300. Weather is like him hitting two home runs in one game, or going 0 for 4. Climate change would be like him taking some new super-steriod that increases his average to .400. Then he'd also have more two-homer games, but there'd still be some 0 for 4s, and various in-between days.