NOAA: 403 weather, climate disasters hit US in 2024 at total cost exceeding $2.915 trln
The US has sustained 403 separate weather and climate disasters in 2024 at total cost ...
NOAA: 403 weather, climate disasters hit US in 2024 at total cost exceeding $2.915 trln
The US has sustained 403 separate weather and climate disasters in 2024 at total cost exceeding $2.915 trillion, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information of the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The 2024 was a near-record tornado year. NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center continues to confirm the tornadoes that occurred during 2024; the current count is 1,735, which is the second-highest number of confirmed tornadoes on record (2004 had 1,817), and well above the 30-year (1991–2020) average of 1,225.
It was an active Atlantic hurricane season, with18 named tropical systems forming during 2024. Eleven of those storms were hurricanes (tied with 1995 for fifth highest on record), including five that intensified to major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). Five of those 11 hurricanes made landfall in the U.S., which ties with 1893, 2004 and 2005 as the fourth-highest number of hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. during a season.
Those five hurricanes were Hurricanes Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene and Milton. Hurricane Helene was the seventh-most-costly Atlantic hurricane on record.
Meanwhile, wildfires burned millions of acres. The number of wildfires across the U.S.in 2024 was slightly below the 20-year average (2001–20), with more than 61,000 wildfires reported over the year. However, the total number of acres burned from these wildfires — 8.8 million acres — was 26% above the 20-year average.
The Park Fire, the fourth-largest wildfire in California history, burned nearly 430,000 acres and destroyed over 600 structures.
Last year was a record-warm year for the U.S., as the nation was hit by numerous tornadoes and devastating hurricanes.
The average annual temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 55.5 degrees F — 3.5 degrees above the 20th-century average — ranking as the nation’s warmest year in NOAA’s 130-year climate record.
Seventeen states — Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin — had their warmest year on record.
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