Wildfires in Los Angeles, tornadoes in the Midwest and severe storms in the South made the first six months of 2025 the costliest start of any year in terms of weather disasters, according to data from the nonprofit Climate Central, which began tracking costly weather events after Trump administration funding cuts ended a U.S. program earlier this year. year.
Key data
Records show a total of $101 billion in damages so far in 2025, with 14 disasters costing $1 billion or more: six tornado outbreaks, six severe storms, a hail/flood storm and the Los Angeles wildfires, which devastated the region for several weeks in January.
The wildfires were responsible for the majority of the damage, destroying approximately 16,000 buildings and causing $61 billion in losses, making them the 10th costliest climate disaster in U.S. history.
The group Climate Central has begun tracking climate disasters that generate more than $1 billion in damages, a task that was long the responsibility of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) before Trump cut funding for its database in May.
Climate Central uses the same methodology that NOAA used, and the new tracker is being maintained by Adam Smith, a former NOAA economist.
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Surprising fact
The Los Angeles wildfires are the only disaster ranked in the top 10 costliest that is not a hurricane. Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, remains the costliest climate disaster on record in the United States, costing $206 billion.
The total amount of damage caused by 417 climate events amounts to $3.1 trillion, with a cost of $1 billion or more since 1980.
Key background
Natural disasters are expected to continue to increase in frequency and severity as climate change continues to impact the planet. Scientists warn that rising water and air temperatures allow for faster strengthening of hurricanes, heavier rainfall, and faster spread of forest fires.
Between 1980 and 2024, there were an average of nine billion-dollar disasters a year, a number that has risen to 24 a year over the past five years. Devastating wildfires in Hawaii, Hurricane Idalia in western Florida and a drought that claimed the lives of more than 200 people in the South and Midwest in 2023 made that year the year with the most billion-dollar disasters, with a total of 28 events.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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