Weather Disasters Cost More Than $100 Billion in First Half of 2025
10/22/25 – Climate Central, an independent group of scientists and communicators who research weather trends, reported today that 14 separate billion-dollar weather disasters have occurred across the U.S. during the first six months of 2025. They caused $101.4 billion in damages.
Climate Central Now Updating Former NOAA Database
Climate Central has taken over the database of billion-dollar disasters that NOAA stopped updating earlier this year. The self-described “policy neutral” non-profit group addresses climate, sea-level rise, extreme weather, energy, and related topics.
Most Expensive 6 Months on Record
The 14 events recorded just in the first half of this year, between January and June, are well above the inflation-adjusted annual average of 9 events over the past 46 years.
According to Climate Central, the first half of 2025 was the most expensive on record, driven by unprecedented damage from the LA wildfires and damaging Spring severe weather.
The January LA wildfires were the costliest event so far this year — and the costliest wildfire on record — with damages exceeding $60 billion, nearly doubling the previous record.
Need for Data If Costs Shift to States
Climate Central is committed to keeping this critical dataset accessible, timely, and transparent, and will continue to update the analysis to monitor the risk of weather and climate-related disasters.
Adam Smith, Climate Central’s Senior Climate Impacts Scientist, said, “I’m proud to continue this work with Climate Central and to ensure that this vital information remains accessible to the public, researchers, and decision-makers.” Smith formerly headed up NOAA’s U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters Program for 15 years.
The change from public to private comes as President Trump has said he wants to eventually shift the burden of disaster relief and recovery from the federal government onto states.
The dataset is available here: https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-services/billion-dollar-disasters.
Causes Beyond Climate
While the first half of the year set records, it’s unclear how an unusually quiet Atlantic hurricane season while affect the final totals for the year. So far, not one Atlantic hurricane has made landfall in the mainland US this year, a first since 2005.
According to the New York Times, the annual average of billion-dollar disasters has surged from three per year during the 1980s to 19 per year during the last 10 years.
The increase in costs during that same period is not just a function of weather extremes. “As more people and businesses move into areas that are prone to floods and wildfire, more property is vulnerable to damage,” said the Times article.
The Times quoted Andrew Rumbach, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. He studies climate effects on communities and said the database serves as a powerful signal that decision making is costing us a lot of money.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/22/25
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