Eaton Canyon Fire Spread to Arcadia in Los Angeles 2025. Credit: Kyle/Adobe Stock
Weather disasters in the U.S. caused between $378 billion and $424 billion in total damage and economic loss this year, according to a new AccuWeather analysis.
That’s down some from 2024, when damage and losses from weather disasters was estimated at somewhere between $479 billion and $532 billion. The lower cost is due largely to a relatively quiet hurricane season.
Despite the drop, AccuWeather experts say this year’s numbers are still concerning.
“The financial impact from extreme weather in America this year is staggering, even without a single hurricane landfall or a major fire impacting a highly populated area during the peak of the wildfire season,” said Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather’s chief meteorologist, in a statement.
This year’s biggest disasters include:
- The Palisades and Eaton fires in LA: $250 billion to $275 billion in total damage and economic loss
- Severe storms and flooding in the central U.S. in April: $80 billion to $90 billion
- Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean: $48 billion to $52 billion
- Texas flash flood disaster: $18 billion to $22 billion
- Winter storm in the Gulf Coast: $14 billion to $17 billion
- May tornado outbreak in the central U.S.: $9 billion to $11 billion
- Flash flooding in the Carolinas from Tropical Storm Chantal: $4 billion to $6 billion
- October tropical wind and rainstorm on the East Coast: $3 billion
This is the first year since AccuWeather started issuing damage estimates in 2017 in which the costliest weather disasters happened during the first half of the year.
"Every year and every season brings its own unique risks,” Porter said. “We cannot rely on statistics and seasonal norms to gauge our vulnerability, especially as our climate continues to warm.”
According to global average temperature data, 2025 is on track to become the second hottest year on record, tying 2023 and falling just behind 2024.
"The combination of warmer air and warmer oceans is contributing to more frequent and more intense flash floods, more destructive hurricanes and longer wildfire seasons in parts of the country,” said Brett Anderson, AccuWeather’s climate expert and senior meteorologist.
Photo credit: Kyle/Adobe Stock
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