U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather Disaster Costs Since 1980

1980 to present data provides total direct loss assessments for U.S. weather and climate disasters, including tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, severe storms, wildfires, freezes, and winter storms. The dataset synthesizes information from multiple public and private sources such as FEMA, USDA, and insurance claim services. Support for this product ceased in May 2025 due to federal budget reductions.

Use Cases

• Trend analysis of disaster costs over time based on the multi-decade time series.
• Attribution of economic losses to specific event types like wildfires or floods based on the categorized disaster assessments.
• Validation of insurance and federal aid models using the integrated data from FEMA NFIP and USDA RMA sources.

Strengths

• Integrates data from multiple authoritative sources including FEMA, USDA, and insurance industry reports.
• Covers a long temporal range from 1980 to the present, allowing for longitudinal analysis.

Limitations

• Dataset support was discontinued in May 2025, indicating no future updates.
• Specific column names and data structure are not provided in the available metadata.
• Conflicting update frequencies are noted, with one source stating quarterly updates but another indicating cessation of support.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Assessments compiled from a variety of public and private data sources including Insurance Services Office (ISO) Property Claim Services (PCS), FEMA programs, USDA agencies, and state reporting.

Time Range

1980 - present

Freshness

Last updated March 6, 2026, but product support ended May 2025.

Geography

United States