Billion Dollar Disasters, December Warmth Shattered US Records In 2023, NOAA Says

T​he U.S. ended 2023 with its warmest-ever December and smashed the previous yearly record for billion-dollar weather disasters, according to a new government report.

T​he record billion-dollar disaster count: As part of the report released Tuesday, N​OAA estimated 28 separate weather events each caused at least $1 billion in damage in the U.S. in 2023. That's six more than the prior record set in 2020 (records date to 1980.) Cost estimates are adjusted for inflation to 2023.

A​mong these 28 costly events were 19 separate rounds of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes from March through September, primarily in the southern and central U.S.; four flood events; two tropical cyclones (Hurricane Idalia in Florida and Typhoon Mawar in Guam); a wildfire; a drought; and a winter cold snap.

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A deadly, damaging toll: NOAA estimated the 28 weather disasters in 2023 claimed 492 lives in the U.S., with a combined estimated damage toll of $92.9 billion.

T​he year's most deadly and damaging event was the drought and heat wave(s) that plagued the South and Midwest from spring through fall. NOAA attributed 247 deaths to this event, primarily due to excessive heat. Total damage - including to crops, agricultural losses, wildfires and low Mississippi River levels - was estimated at $14.5 billion.

T​he deadliest "storm-related" event in 2023 was the Lahaina, Hawaii, firestorm, which claimed 100 lives on August 8, the nation's deadliest wildfire in over 100 years. The March 2-3 severe outbreak - including at least 33 confirmed tornadoes - was the nation's costliest storm event in 2023, responsible for $6 billion damage.

Recent plague of billion-dollar disasters: The past four years have had a combined 88 separate billion-dollar disasters, the most of any four-year period in NOAA records dating to 1980. That included at least 11 severe thunderstorm billion-dollar events each year from 2020 through 2023.

Since 1980, America's costliest weather disasters have almost exclusively been hurricanes. For example, the damage toll from 2005's Hurricane Katrina – adjusted for inflation to 2023 dollars – was $195 billion, more than twice the total of all of 2023's disasters. In 2022, Hurricane Ian inflicted an estimated $116.3 billion in damage.

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T​he nation's warmest December: NOAA's report also found it was the warmest December on record in the contiguous U.S. in 129 years, topping the previous record from 2021. That was paced by a record-warmest December in seven Northern Plains states, from Montana to Wisconsin. It was also the wettest December on record in Delaware, Minnesota and New Jersey.

A​ record warm year in some U.S. states: While overall it was the nation's fifth-warmest year, five states were record warm, including Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Texas.

T​exas topped its recent hot years of 2012 and 2011, and was much hotter than 1954 and 1933. Louisiana obliterated its previous record hot year from 1921.

M​ORE ON WEATHER.COM

-​ 2023 Was Earth's Warmest Year On Record

-​ 10 Memorable Record-Breaking US Weather Moments From 2023

-​ The 10 Strangest Things We Saw In 2023's Weather

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. His lifelong love of meteorology began with a close encounter with a tornado as a child in Wisconsin. He studied physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then completed his Master's degree working with dual-polarization radar and lightning data at Colorado State University. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.

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