Extreme Weather Events Map (1995-2011)
This map is part of A Climate of Extreme Weather Events, a white paper on U.S. impacts and vulnerability
Extreme Event List (1995-2011)
1. Eastern Heat Wave, 2011
The second hottest summer in US history was particularly brutal in the Eastern United States. Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Louisiana had their hottest summer ever, and the summers in Texas and Oklahoma were the two hottest ever recorded in any state. Temperature related electricity demand was up 22.3 percent nationally, also a record. Newark, NJ, and Washington Dulles Airport both recorded all-time record highs of 108°F and 105°F, respectively. In Iowa, the heat index reached 131°F, due to the extreme humidity that accompanied the heat. Overall, 34 deaths were blamed on the heat wave, a huge reduction from the 700 that perished in Chicago alone during the 1995 heat wave, thanks in part to adaptation efforts by cities.
2. Northeast Floods, 2011
Rainfall totals up to 15 inches in spots brought historic flooding to parts of Pennsylvania and New York. The Susquehanna River surged to record levels, breaking marks set by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The town of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was evacuated over fears levees would be overtopped. This rainfall event came on the heels of the record breaking flooding in Vermont and New Jersey from Hurricane Irene. Flash flooding from heavy rainfall washed out 250 roads and 30 bridges in Vermont and towns were inundated for days in New Jersey.
3. Texas Wildfire, 2011
Wildfires in Texas burned over 3.5 million acres, breaking the all-time record set in 2009. Six of the 10 largest fires in state history occurred during 2011 including the record Bastrop fire that destroyed 2500 houses, more than any other fire in state history. Damage estimates exceed $150 million.
4. North Dakota Flood, 2011
The Souris River, in Minot, North Dakota crested at 1561.72 feet above sea level, topping a 130 year old record by almost 4 feet. The flooding was estimated to exceed the 1-in-100 year level and over 10,000 people were evacuated. Four thousand, mostly uninsured homes were damaged in the flooding.
The Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona has burned almost 400,000 acres and is on its way to becoming the largest fire in Arizona history, surpassing the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski Fire. The fire currently threatens long distance power lines that serve New Mexico and Texas. Millions of dollars in damages are expected from the fire and 27 homes have already been incinerated. The state's 5th largest wildfire is also currently burning in southeastern Arizona, and all of the top five wildfires on record have occurred since 2002.
6. Lower Mississippi River Flood, 2011
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, high water from the floods broke the high water mark from the 1927 flood, meaning the Mississippi River was running faster and higher through town than ever before in 183 years of records. Waterway commerce was disrupted, delaying barge traffic and swamping crucial grain elevators, placing some of the building blocks of the U.S. economy at risk. Preliminary estimates indicate total costs could be between $6 billion and $9 billion from Memphis to the gulf.
7. Texas Drought, 2011
From the fall of 2010 through the summer of 2011, Texas suffered through a period of record low rainfall, which resulted in over 85 percent of the state being classified as under “exceptional” drought, the most severe category. The drought is the worst 12 month drought in Texas history, with precipitation totals only at 21 percent of normal. Ninety percent of Texas’ beef cows are located in counties with severe to exceptional drought and some herds have been decimated. Crop losses have been staggering as well. Agricultural damages alone are currently at 5 billion and still rising.
Lake Superior recorded its highest surface temperature ever, 68.3°F. The average yearly temperature is 39°F, and in recent years, August surface temperatures have only averaged 55°F. Historically, Lake Superior has frozen over once every 20 years. The last time Lake Superior froze was in 1979.
9. Washington, D.C., 2010, Year of Extremes
In February, Washington, D.C., recorded the heaviest weekly snow total ever recorded at Dulles Airport; the two-day snowfall record was exceeded by almost 10 inches. Despite a lack of snow for the rest of the month, Dulles still recorded its snowiest month ever. By the end of the season, the entire capital area had a winter for the record books as the snowiest ever, although temperatures were not abnormally cold. However, the snow did not last as Washington recorded its warmest spring on record since 1871, breaking the previous record set in 1991. The heat continued, and by September of 2010, the previous summer temperature record had been surpassed by 1.3°F. The summer of 2010 was 4.3°F above normal and the average summer high was above 90°F for the first time ever. Even nighttime temperatures were high. During the summer, daily low temperatures remained above 70°F 77 percent of the time.
Local rainfall amounts exceeded 20 inches in parts of Tennessee during a severe weather outbreak in April-May 2010, including 13 inches in a two-day period. The Nashville area alone experienced more than $1 billion in damages, equal to one year of economic output for the city. The total bill was estimated to be $2.3 billion. The rainfall was estimated as a once-in-1,000-year event.
11. Rhode Island Flooding, 2010
Heavy rainfall in late March caused the worst flooding in Rhode Island's history, causing $1.5 billion in damages and 11 fatalities. The Pawtuxet River crested 12 feet above flood stage, shattering the previous record by several feet. Part of Interstate 95 was shut down, and hundreds of people were forced from their homes.
2010 was the earliest "ice-out" at Lake Auburn in Maine in 136 years of records. The lake was declared virtually free of ice on March 22, beating the previous record from 1981 by eight days.
For the entire year of 2009, drought conditions dominated across the Southwest and parts of the Great Plains. Total agricultural losses were estimated at $5 billion. Nineteen million California residents faced mandatory water restrictions, and 70,000-80,000 farm workers were laid off as a result of water shortages.[1]
Up to 20 inches of rain fell across sections of Georgia and Alabama as the 500 year flood level was breached on the Chattahoochee River. Atlanta was particularly hard hit by the flooding as the water washed out bridges and shut down interstate highways. The floods were estimated to have caused $250 million in damages; including a sewage treatment plant that flooded and discharged raw sewage into the Chattahoochee River, which provides drinking water for 3.5 million people. The flood came on the heels of an equally devastating two year drought.
15. Alaska, 2009
Alaska had its second large fire season in five years as the Crazy Mountain and Railbelt complex fires combined to burn 1.1 million acres.
16. California Wildfires, 2008
By the summer of 2008 Northern California was ripe for wildfire after three years of drought and the driest spring on record. The spark was provided by rare dry thunderstorms that ignited forests at under 5 percent moisture content compared to 40 percent normally. Unusual spring winds also spread the fires quickly and at the height of the blaze, 2,780 different fires were burning concurrently. The fires burned over a million acres, killed 23 people, and caused record levels of air pollution including hazardous levels of particulates. Fires destroyed a dormitory at Westmont College, where students were caught unaware by the rapidly advancing flames.
17. Midwest Flooding, June 2008
During June, heavy and persistent rainfall enveloped the Midwest resulting in widespread flooding on a scale not seen since 1993--itself a generational event. Portions of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan recorded their wettest month ever. The April-June period was the wettest ever since records were begun in 1895. During this period, 1,100 daily precipitation records were set, including numerous reports of rainfall totals in excess of 9 inches. More than 8,000 people were evacuated in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the entire downtown flooded, inundating City Hall, the county courthouse, and jail.
A severe drought with extreme heat impacted most of the southeast, Great Plains, and Ohio Valley during 2007. Major reductions in crop yields and low stream-flows were reported across the region. Alabama Power operated some of its coal plants at significantly reduced levels because of concerns about water temperatures and the Tennessee Valley Authority shut down Brown's Ferry Number 2 nuclear power plant in August due to inadequate water to cool the reactor.
Continued drought conditions made fertile grounds for fires during the summer of 2007. An additional 9.3 million acres burned after the record breaking fires of 2006. A quarter of a million people were evacuated from San Diego County, California, and refugees took up residence in shopping centers, racetracks, and Qualcomm Stadium.[2]
20. Georgia, 2007
Due to the historic drought, by late April of 2007, Georgia was a tinderbox ready to ignite. The spark came when a power line fell at the Sweat Farm Road in Waycross, GA. By late May, a number of fires had started, and the wildfires at the Big Turnaround Complex and Bugaboo would combine to create the largest fire in Georgia history, eventually burning 440,000 acres before being extinguished.
Due to dry weather and high winds, more acres of land burned in 2006 than any year since 1960. Ten million acres burned across the south and western states, causing 28 fatalities, including 20 firefighters and well over $1 billion in damages.
June 2006 saw weeks of heavy rainfall over portions of the Mid-Atlantic states, causing $1 billion in damages and killing 20. Seventy-five percent of Conklin, New York, was underwater, and 200,000 residents of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, were ordered to evacuate after officials feared that the levees could be overtopped.[3]
23. Arizona, 2005
The Cave Creek Complex fire burned 250,000 acres en route to becoming the largest fire ever recorded in the Sonoran Desert. The fire destroyed a Boy Scout camp, forcing the evacuation of 100 children near Mount Potosi.
24. Alaska, 2004
The Taylor Complex fire burned 1.3 million acres in Alaska as part of the record-breaking 2004 fire season that impacted over 6 million acres across the state. The Taylor Complex closed a highway and stranded 200 people in the town of Chicken, Alaska.
From the spring through the early fall of 2002, the worst drought in more than a century parched much of the east coast from Georgia to Maine. New York remained under a drought emergency for six months, which included a car washing ban and a shutdown of ornamental fountains.[4] In New Jersey, restaurants were prohibited from serving water unless customers specifically ordered it. Across the region, thousands of homeowners were forced to drill new wells, as existing aquifers dried up.
Due to the widespread drought during the summer of 2002, the west suffered a particularly devastating fire season where over 7 million acres burned and costs totaled $2 billion. The snowpack in the Colorado Rockies dried up two months earlier than usual, setting the stage for a wildfire that closed state parks and threatened Denver itself.[5]
27. Southwest/Utah drought, 2002
During 2002, Utah along with most of the Western United States faced one of the worst droughts since the Dust Bowl. Rivers in southwestern Utah were running at 90 percent below normal levels, and the state was enduring its fourth straight year of below normal snowfall. Damage to farmers was estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.
A persistent drought lasting from the spring through the summer of 2000 caused significant agricultural losses of over $4 billion and an estimated 140 deaths nationwide. Dallas-Fort Worth Airport went 84 days without rainfall shattering the previous record of 58 from 1934 and 1950.[6]
29. Eastern Drought/Heat Wave, 1999
During the summer of 1999, the eastern U.S. suffered through a debilitating drought and heat wave, causing agricultural losses of $1 billion and a death toll of more than 500. Steel mills across the region scaled back, including Republic Engineered Steels, which was ordered to shut down by the power company, sending workers home to wait out the heat wave.[7]
Coming off a damaging drought the summer before, severe flooding hit southeast Texas during October and November 1998. Two heavy rain events produced 20 inch rainfall totals, causing $1 billion in damages and 31 deaths. In the small town of Cureo, Texas, 1,200 of the 6,700 residents were forced to evacuate to the local high school to wait out the floodwaters.[8]
Drought and heat wave conditions brought agricultural activity to almost a standstill during the summer of 1998 from New Mexico eastward to the Carolinas. The drought hit hardest in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico, as those states had their driest summer in 104 years of records. Two hundred deaths were blamed on the heat, and agriculture and ranching interests absorbed up to $9 billion in damages. Fireworks displays for the July 4 holiday were cancelled in some parts of the region due to fire concerns with the dry conditions.[9]
Thunderstorms dropped 2 inches of rain in 30 minutes near Fort Collins, before subsiding. Later that evening, the storms picked up again, dropping an additional 9.8 inches of rain over a couple hours and bringing the storm total to 14.5 inches. The extreme level of rainfall turned the tiny Spring Creek into torrent of water, derailing a freight train, sweeping through residential neighborhoods, and destroying much of the inventory of the Colorado State University Library.
In April and May, the most severe flood since 1826 occurred on the Red River in North Dakota due to rain and abundant snow from the prior winter. Floodwaters reached over 3 miles inland, flooding almost all of Grand Forks and causing 90 percent of residents to evacuate. At the time, it was the largest evacuation since the Civil War.[10] The river crested at over 54 feet, a new record, and 26 feet above flood stage.
Torrential rain drenched the Pacific Northwest and California for the second year in a row, this time dropping as much as 40 inches in two weeks, producing severe flooding region-wide and costing as much as $3 billion. The Yosemite Valley flooded for the first time since 1862.
35. Ohio Valley Flooding, 1997
Intense bursts of rainfall broke out over the Ohio Valley in March 1997. Ten inches of rain fell in 24 hours in Louisville. In the town of Falmouth, 2,300 residents were evacuated due to flood-related damage, including gas leaks and collapsed buildings.[11]
February 1996 saw as much as 30 inches of rain fall over the Pacific Northwest. Heavy rain combined with melting snow caused severe flooding and cost over $1 billion in damages. In Washington state, a Burlington Northern Freight train derailed after it hit a mudslide covering the tracks, knocking an engine into Puget Sound. Three crew members escaped without injury.
37. Southern Plains Severe Drought. 1995
From the fall of 1995 until the summer of 1996, a severe drought affected agricultural regions of the southern plains, causing crop damages worth as much as $5 billion. Thousands of farmers were pushed to the edge of financial ruin, and the drought spurred a panic selling of cattle in some areas.
The Chicago heat wave of 1995 led to around 750 heat-related deaths in Chicago.[12] Unlike past heatwaves, record humidity also accompanied the high temperatures. The heat index reached 119°F at O'Hare airport and 125°F at Midway. Dew points reached in excess of 80°F adding to the already considerable heat stress.
During May 1995, torrential rains and hail tore across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi dropping 10-25 inches of rain in five days, causing widespread damage from flooding. In Louisiana, 10 inches fell within a six-hour period. Damage was estimated at $1 billion, with 35,000 homes damaged in Louisiana alone.
[1] Wood, Daniel B, "California's drought raises rural-urban tensions of water" Christian Science Monitor 4/18/2009
[2] Kahn, Carrie "Winds, Heat Stoke California Wildfires" New York Times 10/23/07
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