US records 19 weather events breaking $1bn in losses

In the first seven months of 2024, the US has faced 19 confirmed weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1bn each, according to experts from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information. These events resulted in at least 149 fatalities and caused more than $49.6bn in damages.

These events included 15 severe storm events, one tropical cyclone event, one wildfire event, and two winter storm events. This figure is second only to 2023 for the highest amount for the first seven months of the year. For context, the 1980-2023 annual average is 8.5 events, while the annual average for the last five years (2019-2023) is 20.4 events.

Last month, areas of the US sweltered through record heat and the impacts from raging wildfires, while others experienced the fury of Hurricane Beryl, said the NOAA.

On 1 July, Beryl became the earliest Category Five hurricane and only the second Category Five on record during the month of July in the Atlantic Ocean, said the NOAA. As for wildfires, the Park Fire, which started 24 July, is currently the fourth-largest wildfire in California history, burning more than 400,956 acres. California and New Hampshire had their warmest July on record, with 19 other states seeing their top ten warmest July on record.

For the year to date, average temperature for the contiguous US was 54.4°F (3.2°F above average), ranking as the second-warmest year to date on record. Temperatures were above average across nearly all of the contiguous US, while record-warm temperatures were observed in parts of the Northeast, Great Lakes, southern Plains and Mid-Atlantic. New Hampshire and Vermont both saw their warmest January-July period. An additional 25 states had a top-five warmest year-to-date period.

Alaska saw its wettest July in its 100-year historical record, while the Chicago area broke the record for the most tornadoes in one day (32) in July. Washington DC tied the record (four) of consecutive days with temperatures above 100°F in July, while Las Vegas hit an all-time high temperature record of 120°F last month.

The NOAA has warned that atmospheric and oceanic conditions have set the stage for an extremely active hurricane season that could rank among the busiest on record. In its mid-season hurricane outlook update, forecasters from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center updated the number of expected named storms to 17-24 (with winds of 39 mph or greater), of which eight to 13 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater), including four to seven major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater).

“In the Atlantic basin, a typical season will yield 14 named storms, of which seven become hurricanes and three become major hurricanes. Atmospheric and oceanic conditions continue to support an above-normal 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, with a 90% probability of this result. 2024 has only a 10% chance of a near-normal season and a negligible chance of a below-normal season,” said the NOAA.

“Hurricane Beryl broke multiple long-standing records in the Atlantic basin, and we’re continuing to see the climatological hallmarks of an active season,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “Sea surface temperatures remain abnormally high, and La Niña is still expected to emerge during the hurricane season, so the time to prepare is now.”