The Disaster Count America Stopped Counting
For forty-five years NOAA counted every U.S. weather disaster that caused at least a billion dollars of CPI-adjusted damage — hurricanes, wildfires, floods, hail, drought. The count climbed from a handful a year in the 1980s to more than twenty a year in the 2020s, a mix of warming climate and ever more property in harm's way. The agency discontinued the product in May 2025, freezing the record at 2024; the archived series is preserved here as published, with an end date that is itself part of the story.
What does it show?
NOAA counted weather disasters costing over $1 billion for 45 years: about 4 a year in the 1980s, 23 a year in the 2020s. The agency discontinued the product in 2025, so this record now ends at 2024 — the counting stopped, the disasters did not.
Methodology
Annual count of U.S. weather and climate disasters with damages of at least $1 billion, CPI-adjusted to constant dollars, from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information archive of 403 events, 1980-2024. Rising counts mix a warming climate with more people and property in harm's way. NOAA retired the product in May 2025; the archived series no longer updates, which is why the axis stops at 2024. Total CPI-adjusted damages across the record approach $3 trillion.