Billion-Dollar Disaster Seasons

The U.S. experienced a record 28 billion-dollar disasters in 2023, causing over $93 billion in damages. Since 1980, tropical cyclones have been the costliest events, while severe storms are the most frequent. The document details how warming temperatures intensify specific hazards—such as increasing rainfall intensity and fueling stronger tropical cyclones—and notes that the average time between such disasters has shrunk from 82 days in the 1980s to 12 days in 2023.

• The United States reached a record high of 28 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2023, resulting in an estimated 492 deaths and more than $93 billion in damages. This surpasses the previous annual record of 22 disasters set in 2020.
• Since 1980, tropical cyclones have been the most expensive disaster type, accounting for 52% of all billion-dollar disaster costs, totaling nearly $1.4 trillion. Severe storms are the most frequent, representing 50% of all such disasters in the same period.
• The frequency and cost of billion-dollar disasters have risen sharply: they were 2.7 times more frequent in the last 20 years compared to the previous 20, and the average annual cost increased from $28 billion (1984-2003) to $101 billion (2004-2023).
• The interval between billion-dollar disasters has decreased significantly, from an average of 82 days in the 1980s to 16 days between 2019 and 2023, and further down to 12 days in 2023.
• Climate change is increasing the likelihood of 'compound extreme events,' where multiple hazards occur simultaneously or consecutively. Examples include overlapping droughts and megafires in the western U.S. and back-to-back hurricanes in the eastern U.S.
• Warming temperatures are altering specific disaster profiles: air can hold 4% more moisture per 1°F of warming, increasing flash flood risks; human-caused warming has increased the likelihood of hurricanes reaching Category 3 or higher by approximately 8% per decade since 1979; and human-caused climate change is responsible for at least two-thirds of the increase in fire weather in the western U.S.
• The increase in disaster costs and frequency is driven by a combination of a warming climate, population growth in at-risk areas, and accelerated development in floodplains, coastal areas, and fire-prone regions.

APA

Smith, A. B., & Singh, D. (2024). Billion-Dollar Disaster Seasons. Climate Central. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/billion-dollar-disaster-seasons-2024

Chicago

Smith, Adam B., and Deepti Singh. Billion-Dollar Disaster Seasons. Climate Central, 2024. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/billion-dollar-disaster-seasons-2024.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Smith |first1=Adam B. |last2=Singh |first2=Deepti |title=Billion-Dollar Disaster Seasons |publisher=Climate Central |date=17 January 2024 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/billion-dollar-disaster-seasons-2024 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{smith2024billiondollar, author = {Smith, Adam B. and Singh, Deepti}, title = {{Billion-Dollar Disaster Seasons}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2024}, month = jan, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/billion-dollar-disaster-seasons-2024}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }