Billion Dollar Disasters Top 28 in 2023

NOAA has released the final summary of the billion dollar disasters in 2023. Billion dollar disasters are defined by weather events that result in over $1 in damages. According to NOAA this year's 28 is a record, and sets us above the previous highest year of 2020 which had 22 disasters. This year the cost of the disasters was a total $92.9B and even though we had the most number of events in 2023, it was not the most expensive year on record due to many of the events being multi-day severe weather events that came in just above the threshold.

Some of the more notable disasters of 2023 included the deadly Hawaiian wildfires of August, which accounted for 100 deaths and $5.6B in damage. Also included on the list was Typhoon Mawar that hit the island of Guam in late May of 2023. It produced $4.3B in damage on the island. Added to the list late this year was the Fort Lauderdale flash flooding event on April 12-13 that closed the airport. It barely made the list with $1.1B in reported damages.

NOAA and the NEIC decided to rank multi-month events as individual billion dollar disasters, including the southern/central heat wave and drought as well as the atmospheric river events of early 2023 that lead to flooding over a three month period in California.

The List of 2023 Disasters Are: (all summaries provided by NCEI and NOAA)

1. Northeastern Winter Storm/Cold Wave (February 2-5): A strong winter storm produced snow, high winds and bitter cold across numerous Northeastern states. High winds caused widespread power outages in Massachusetts while Mount Washington, New Hampshire observed a wind chill temperature of -108 degrees Fahrenheit. This was one of the coldest wind chill temperatures ever recorded in the United States. ($1.8B)

2. Southern and Eastern Severe Weather (March 2-3): Severe storms impact numerous southern and eastern states including Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Impacts from high wind and tornadoes cause widespread damage to homes, vehicles, businesses, government buildings and infrastructure. ($6.0B)

3. California Flooding (Dec 26-March 19): Numerous atmospheric rivers in continuous succession caused severe flooding, record snowfall and copious rainfall that significantly reduced drought deficits across California, between late-December and March 2023. Flooding impacted many homes, businesses, levees, agriculture and other infrastructure particularly across central California. ($4.6)

4. Southern and Eastern Severe Weather (March 24-26): Southern and eastern severe storms including more than 40 tornadoes caused damage across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee to many homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure. Additional high wind damage occurred in parts of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. ($2.9)

5. Central Tornado Outbreak and Eastern Severe Weather (March 31-April1): A historic tornado outbreak across numerous central states caused widespread damage from at least 145 tornadoes. States most impacted were Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania where there was severe damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. ($5.7B)

6. Central and Eastern Severe Weather (April 4-6): Severe storms produced large hail, high winds and more than 35 tornadoes across many central and southern states. The states most affected were Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and Michigan where there was considerable damage to homes, businesses, agriculture, vehicles and other infrastructure. ($2.9B)

7. Fort Lauderdale Flash Flood (April 12-13): Historical rainfall and flash flooding inundated Fort Lauderdale and surrounding areas with over 25 inches of rainfall in less than 24 hours. This resulted in many flooded homes, vehicles and businesses. The Fort Lauderdale Airport also closed on April 13 due to the flooding. ($1.1B)

8. Central and Southern Severe Weather (April 15): Several central and southern states including Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle were impacted by hail, tornadoes and high winds. These storms caused damage to many homes, vehicles and businesses. ($1.4B)

9. Central Severe Weather (April 19-20): Severe hail, scattered tornadoes and high winds caused damage across numerous central states. Central Oklahoma was impacted by a cluster of tornadoes. Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin was impacted by hail and high wind damage from severe storms. ($3.0B)

10. Southern Severe Weather (April 25-27): Southern severe weather across Texas, Georgia and Florida. Considerable hail and wind damage to many homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure. ($1.3B)

11. Central Severe Weather (May 6-8): Severe weather across numerous central states including Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. There was additional damage in Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas. Large hail, high winds and tornadoes caused widespread impact to many homes, businesses, vehicles, farms and other infrastructure. ($2.2B)

12. Central and Eastern Tornadoes and Hail Storms (May 10-12): Dozens of tornadoes and severe hail storms from the eastern Rockies and across several central states. The most costly severe hail impacts were focused in Colorado while numerous tornadoes also impacted western Kansas, central Oklahoma and eastern Nebraska. Texas and North Dakota were also impacted from combination of high winds, hail and isolated tornadoes with damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, farms and other infrastructure. ($3.5B)

13. Texas Hail Storms (May 18-19): Texas hail storms impact numerous counties across north central Texas. Collin county in particular was impacted by golf ball to tennis ball sized hail causing damage to homes, vehicles and businesses.($1.6B)

14. Typhoon Mawar (May 24-25): A Category 4 Typhoon struck Guam on May 24 battering the island for 15 hours until the early morning of May 25. Typhoon Mawar's wind speeds of up to 145 mph damaged residential and commercial buildings, vehicles and infrastructure. Several U.S. military bases including Andersen Air Force Base sustained considerable damage. Guam's international airport also sustained flood damage. ($4.3B)

15. Southern Severe Weather (June 11-14): Numerous southern states including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina and Florida were impacted by hail, tornadoes and high winds. These storms caused damage to many homes, vehicles and businesses across several days of severe storm activity. ($4.1B)

16. Central and Southern Severe Weather (June 15-18): Severe storms produce over one thousand reports of damaging weather across Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas and Ohio. Among these reports were over 70 preliminary tornadoes including an EF-3 tornado in Louin, Mississippi. This combination of high winds, hail and tornadoes caused damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. The damage was most focused in Oklahoma. ($3.8)

17. Rockies Hail Storms, Central Severe Weather (June 21-26): Severe hail storms across Colorado damaged many homes, vehicles and injured approximately 100 people at a large outdoor concert. This multi-day outbreak of severe weather also produced more than 60 tornadoes across portions of Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, Indiana, Kentucky and Arkansas that caused damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. ($5.3B)

18. Central Severe Weather (June 28-July 2): Severe storms caused damage across numerous Central states. The state most impacted were Missouri, Illinois and Indiana while there were also damage in many surrounding states. The damage to many homes, vehicles, businesses and agriculture assets was largely from high wind and damaging hail but there were also scattered tornado impacts. ($1.9B)

19. Northeast Flooding in (July 9-15): Severe storms brought devastation and flooding to portions of the Northeast, as areas reported up to eight inches of rain within a 24-hour period. Montpelier, Vermont received a record-breaking 5.28 inches of rain, flooding the city and damaging thousands of homes and businesses. The wide scale flooding in Vermont was similar to the flood impacts from Hurricane Irene in 2011. Early estimates put the flood damage in West Point, New York at more than $100 ($101.0) million. There was also considerable damage to roads, bridges and agriculture across the Northeast. Severe storms also caused high wind and hail impacts across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois. ($2.2B)

20. Midwest Severe Weather (July 19-21): Severe storms caused damage across several North Central and Southeastern states. The states most impacted were Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee and Georgia. Ping pong to golf ball-sized hail and high winds damaged many homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure. ($1.9B)

21. Northern Plains Severe Weather (July 28-29): Severe storms caused damage across several North Central and Eastern states. The state most impacted were Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. High wind, severe hail and tornadoes caused damage to many homes, vehicles, businesses and agriculture assets.($1.5B)

22. East Coast/Midwest Severe Weather (August 5-8): More than one thousand reports of high wind, severe hail or tornadoes across many Northeastern and Eastern states. August 7 was a prolific day of severe weather with damage reports from Georgia to New York. These storms caused impacts to many homes, vehicles, businesses, agriculture and other infrastructure. ($1.6B)

23. Hawaiian Fires (August 8): Devastating wildfires destroyed the historic town of Lahaina on Maui Island of Hawaii. Winds from Hurricane Dora exacerbated the wildfire as it spread on the island of Maui, making it the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in over a century. Thousands of homes, vehicles and businesses were destroyed. ($5.6B)

24. Minnesota Hail Storms (August 11): Numerous hail storms caused extensive damage across south-central Minnesota. Golf ball to baseball-sized hail caused damage to the windows, siding and roofs of many homes, vehicles and businesses. ($1.8B)

25. Hurricane Idalia (August 29-31): Hurricane Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach in the Big Bend region of Florida as a strong Category 3 hurricane with winds of 125 mph. Idalia was the strongest hurricane to hit the Big Bend region in more than 125 years. Storm surge was about 8 feet above ground at Cedar Key, which caused heavy damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure. Other Big Bend coastal communities were also inundated by storm surge. Idalia produced 5 to 10 inches of rainfall across the Big Bend region of Florida and southeastern portions of Georgia and the Carolinas. The relatively low population density of the Big Bend region helped to reduce the physical exposure and damage costs. Significant flooding was reported in downtown Charleston, SC and nearby Edisto Beach. There was also 2 to 4 feet of storm surge along the Carolina coastline, which was exacerbated by the full moon and high tide cycle. ($3.5B)

26. Southern Hail Storms (September 23-24): Hail storms impact Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The most damaging impacts were in central Texas including Austin, Georgetown, Round Rock and Arlington on September 24. Towns north of Austin in particular were impacted by baseball sized hail causing damage to homes, vehicles and businesses. ($1.6B)

27. Southern/Midwest Drought & Heatwave (Summer-Fall 2023): Drought conditions impacted numerous Southern and Midwestern states (TX, LA, OK, KS, IL, MO, NE) and surrounding states. The agriculture sector has been impacted across these affected states including damage to field crops from lack of rainfall. Ranchers have also been forced to sell-off livestock early in some regions due to high feeding costs. For the second straight year, portions of the Mississippi River have experienced low water levels impacting river commerce. This low flow has also allowed salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to migrate northward, along the bottom of the Mississippi River, impacting water quality in southern Louisiana. Several Northwestern states including Washington, Oregon and Montana have also been impacted by increasing drought effects. ($14.5B)

28. East Coast Storm & Flooding (December 16-18): Powerful east coast storm from Florida to Maine produced widespread impacts from heavy rainfall, flooding, high winds and coastal erosion. The heavy rainfall and snowmelt were amplified by record-high temperatures in the Northeast. ($1.3B)

It is important to note that the billion dollar disasters only encompass a price tag, and don't take into account where the climate hit (populated versus unpopulated area) and are not an indication of climate or trends in general. Use these only as a retrospective not as a disaster planning tool.