2012 ranks as 2nd costliest year with 11 billion-dollar disasters causing more than $110 billion in damages

NCDC Releases 2012 Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters Information | National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) National Climatic Data CenterSkip to main contentSkip to site searchHomeClimate InformationData AccessCustomer SupportAbout NCDCSearch Field: Home > News > NCDC Releases 2012 Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters InformationNCDC Releases 2012 Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters Information Submitted by susan.osborne on Thu, 06/13/2013 - 10:41am

U.S. 2012 Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters. Full-size version also available.

According to NCDC’s 2012 weather and climate disasters information, 2012 saw 11 weather and climate disaster events each with losses exceeding $1 billion in damages. This makes 2012 the second costliest year since 1980, with a total of more than $110 billion in damages throughout the year. The 2012 total damages rank only behind 2005, which incurred $160 billion in damages due in part to four devastating land-falling hurricanes.

The 2012 billion-dollar events included seven severe weather and tornado events, two tropical cyclone events, and the yearlong drought and its associated wildfires. These 11 events killed over 300 people and had devastating economic effects on the areas impacted. With 11 events, 2012 also ranks second highest in total number of billion-dollar events behind 2011, which had 14 events.

The two major drivers of the damage costs in 2012 were Sandy at approximately $65 billion and the yearlong drought at approximately $30 billion. Sandy’s large size, with tropical storm force winds extending nearly 500 miles from the center, led to record storm surge, large-scale flooding, wind damage, and mass power outages along much of the East Coast.

The yearlong drought, which affected more than half the country for the majority of 2012, was the largest drought extent in the United States since the 1930s. U.S. Department of Agriculture Drought Disaster Declarations reached more than 2,600 of the Nation’s 3,143 counties. While drought impacts are often most costly to agricultural centers, their conditions also led to several devastating wildfires that burned over 9 million acres nationwide during 2012.

See NCDC’s Billion-Dollar Weather/Climate Disasters report for more information on the weather and climate events that have had the greatest economic impacts from 1980 to 2012.

News and Updates

Latest News
Upcoming Events/Products

RSS Feeds

Latest News
Upcoming Events/Products

About NCDCEmploymentSite MapPrivacyFOIAInformation QualityDisclaimerDepartment of CommerceNOAANESDISDepartment of Commerce > NOAA > NESDIS > NCDC

View the original article here

Billion-Dollar Disasters 'Harbinger' of Future Extreme Weather: NOAA (LiveScience.com)

SAN FRANCISCO — The 12 $1-billion-plus disasters that hit the United States this year are most likely not simply a matter of the stars aligning against us, according to the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who implicated climate change as a contributor. 

Climate change, caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases humans have emitted, is expected to increase certain types of extreme weather, leading to more disasters, according to a report being assembled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"The report that was released by the IPCC on extreme events suggests that what we are seeing this year is not just an anomalous year, but a harbinger of things to come for at least a subset of the extreme events we are tallying,"said Jane Lubchenco, NOAA's administrator, during a press conference held here this week at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting.

A summary of the report released in November predicts an increase in certain types of extreme weather, including daily high temperatures, heat waves, heavy precipitation and droughts, in some places. [Photos of Devastating Texas Drought]

Costly disasters

With this increase in extreme weather there will likely be an associated uptick in costs. Earlier Wednesday (Dec. 7) the agency announced that this year, so far, had broken the record for costly, weather-related disasters,including drought, wildfire, tornados, flooding, a blizzard and a hurricane. She noted that the agency is still tallying costs related to Tropical Storm Lee and the unseasonable snowstorm in the Northeast that occurred over Halloween weekend.

"I believe there are probably four reasons why we are seeing an increase," said Lubchenco, referring to the number of costly events. "One is there are more extreme events, period, but it is more complicated than that," Lubchenco said, adding that the country now has more people, who have more stuff to lose in disasters, and more people and their stuff now reside in harm's way, such as along the coasts. More people also have insurance that pays for their losses, magnifying the costs associated with a disaster.  

The previous record, for nine $1-billion-or-more weather-related disasters was set in 2008.

Climate-change connection

Of the types of extremes that battered the country this year, only certain large-scale phenomena among them —such as heat waves, droughts and heavy precipitation —have links to climate change.

"We are likely to see more and more of them down the road as climate continues to change," she said.

The connection between small-scale extreme events, such as a localized hailstorm or a tornado, and climate change is less understood, she said.

Since about 1970, NOAA's Climate Extreme Index —which tracks the percentage of the country affected by climate extremes over time —has shown an upward trend that is notably different than the activity in earlier decades, she told an audience of scientists at a talk earlier in the day.

This trend is driven by daily highs and lows, availability of water and heavy precipitation in a single day. Most notably, since 1970, more of the country is experiencing unusually warm nights, with less of the country experiencing unusually cool nights. This particular shift is significant, she said: "Warm overnight lows are related to heat stress in both people, and plants and animals; they never get a chance to cool off."

Likewise, while the country has had periods of severe drought, such as during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, it has never become drier and wetter at the same time, as has happened in the last decade, she said.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Wynne Parry on Twitter @Wynne_Parry. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

View the original article here

Weather record tied: Most billion-dollar disasters (AP)

WASHINGTON – This crazy year of weather extremes has tied another record: this one for most billion-dollar weather disasters

The National Weather Service says nine weather disasters this year have each caused more than $1 billion in damage. That ties 2008. And this year isn't near finished.

Weather Service Director Jack Hayes says the peak of hurricane season is just starting and the United States seems overdue for a hurricane smacking the coast.

The government has been tracking billion-dollar weather disasters for 30 years and the country normally averages about three a year.

The billion-dollar disasters included two floods, five tornado outbreaks and a blizzard. This year severe thunderstorms have also cost $20 billion, double what's normal.

Hayes said his office will emphasize making the nation better prepared for weather disasters.

View the original article here