A Timeline of Extreme Storms Throughout U.S. History

The most destructive on the Fujita scale, the tornado that hit Natchez, Mississippi, is one of the earliest recorded tornadoes to hit the U.S., and is the only tornado that killed more people (317) than it injured (109). Its 200 mph winds left a path of destruction along the Mississippi River, costing an estimated $21 million in today’s dollars.

Named as the deadliest blizzard in U.S. history to date, this storm devastated the northeast, with 200 out of 400 total deaths occurring in New York City alone. The highest accumulation of snow reached 58 inches in Saratoga Springs, New York, while some of the lowest temperatures stood at 4 degrees in Northfield, Vermont.

Ten years after the Great Blizzard of 1888, this storm produced up to 35 inches of snow and killed more than 100 people across the U.S. A highly uncommon weather event for the southern regions of Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana, the storm also caused places like Chicago to experience week-long freezing temperatures.

By the afternoon of Sept. 8, Galveston, Texas, was hit with a tropical cyclone consisting of heavy rains, 120 mph wind gusts and 16-foot storm surges that left much of the city underwater. By the storm’s end, the city accrued $30 million in damages and 6,000 people had been killed, making it by far the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

The deadliest tornado in U.S. history at the time, this monstrous storm ran 164 miles through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, destroying 15,000 homes and killing nearly 700 people. Fueled by the mixing of warm air masses, cold fronts and a moving low-pressure system, the tornado devastated the midwestern region for more than three hours and caused $17 million in damages.

South Florida residents had little warning of the category four hurricane that formed in the central Atlantic. The storm killed approximately 400 people, injured 6,000, and cost $105 million — which would equate to $164 billion in today’s dollars.

Continuous heavy rainfall caused levees in Mounds Landing, Mississippi, to break, eventually submerging one million acres of land 10 feet deep along the Mississippi Delta. Named as the most destructive flood in U.S. history, The Great Mississippi Flood left 700,000 people homeless across central states and killed 246 people.

Just two years after the Miami Hurricane, another category four storm hit South Florida, causing severe damage in Palm Beach County which cost the state $25 million — about $16 billion in today’s economy. The death toll reached over 1,800, making this hurricane the second highest death toll caused by a storm in U.S. history, after the Great Galveston Hurricane in 1900.

A severe drought in the southern plains region of the U.S. led to this natural disaster composed of high winds and flying dust. The worst storm of this period occurred on Black Sunday in 1935, when dust from the Oklahoma Panhandle spread to northwestern Oklahoma, blackening skies, damaging air quality and even getting into people’s homes.

Long Island and Southern New England experienced one of the most powerful and destructive hurricanes to hit the northeast. This category three hurricane, consisting of 121 mph winds and 17-foot storm surges, killed 700 people, left 63,000 homeless and cost an estimated $41 billion in today’s economy.

This disaster is considered as one of the deadliest heat waves in U.S. history, impacting the Great Lakes, Plains and Upper Midwest regions, while also stretching into New York City. An all-time heat record of 113 degrees occurred in Peoria, Illinois, and the heat wave killed more than 5,000 people around the nation.

The costliest snowstorm on record at the time, this extreme winter event blanketed the eastern region of the U.S. with up to 62 inches of snow, killing at least 160 people and costing approximately $680 million in 2018 dollars. Sections of Eastern Pennsylvania received record amounts of rainfall, while other places, like Pellston, Michigan, experienced record freezing temperatures of -23 degrees.

During the morning of June 27, this category three hurricane generated a 12-foot storm surge over Cameron, Louisiana and caught many residents off-guard. Composed of 125 mph winds, the storm killed 400 people.

During the evening of Good Friday on March 27, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake hit Prince William Sound, a region in southcentral Alaska. Lasting 4.5 minutes, the earthquake killed 115 and between 40 to 50 people were severely injured— making it the most powerful earthquake recorded in U.S. history.

A lightning storm passing through Yellowstone National Park caused around 40 fires and set ablaze 1.4 million acres of trees and plants, killing a significant portion of the area’s wildlife. Several environmental and human factors contributed to the disaster, including drought, low humidity and accumulations of heavy and dry fuel.

The costliest and most harmful hurricane in U.S. history at the time, this category five hurricane had an atmospheric pressure of 922 millibars when it hit South Florida, then weakened to a category three when hitting Louisiana. As one of the top five most powerful storms to hit the U.S., it cost the country $27 billion in damages at that time and killed 23 people.

This category five storm became the costliest storm in U.S. history by producing nearly $200 billion in damages. The hurricane, which hit the Gulf Coast, caused the most devastation in Mississippi and Louisiana. By the time the storm ended, more than 1,300 had been killed, and an estimated 1.5 million people had fled from all three states.

During the early evening of July 23, a hailstorm was sparked by a supercell storm in South Dakota. Composed of 80 mph winds and a tornado, this storm caused record-size hail to fall in Vivian, South Dakota, which measured 8 inches in diameter and weighed nearly 2 pounds.

Lasting for 42 minutes, this extremely violent tornado first touched-down during the evening in the southern region of Joplin, Missouri, damaging everything in its path for 13 miles. After the storm concluded, 158 people were killed and it cost $2.8 billion, equaling almost $3.8 billion in today’s economy — making it the costliest tornado in recent history from 1950 to 2022.

Consisting of wind speeds up to 80 miles per hour, this storm knocked down trees and left 3.7 million people without power. Fueled by excessive heat and humidity, the storm primarily impacted northwestern states like Ohio and West Virginia, while also reaching eastern states like Maryland and New Jersey.

This storm made history as the largest Atlantic hurricane recorded by diameter after reaching category four status as it traveled into the northeastern region of the U.S. In New York City alone, the winter-like storm system prevented 1.1 million children from attending school for one week, and across the U.S., high winds and storm surges up to 14-ft. severely damaged or destroyed 650,000 homes and cost $70 billion in damage.

Reaching category four status, this hurricane hit the coastal bend and southeast of Texas, along with parts of Louisiana. Producing up to 60.58 inches of rainfall, the hurricane is named as the tropical cyclone with the most significant rainfall ever recorded in U.S. history.

Due to above-average sea surface temperatures paired with light winds, this category five hurricane formed in the Atlantic and passed through St. Martin, the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The storm eventually hit Florida Keys as a category four hurricane, causing $300 million worth of damage in Palm Beach County.

This storm first made landfall as a category one hurricane in Dominica and later turned into category five that devastated Puerto Rico. The storm was the hardest one to hit the U.S. territory in over 80 years, and left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity or access to food and water.

California experienced its deadliest and destructive wildfire season in 2018, with 7,948 wildfires burning almost 1.10 million acres of land and killing 100 people. The aftermath cost California $102.6 billion in damages and cost the U.S. economy almost $150 billion.

This life-threatening storm tore through Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and other midwestern states, destroying 37.7 million acres of farmland and costing the U.S. $11 billion in damages — making it the costliest thunderstorm event in the nation’s history. Yet Iowa was hit the hardest, with four people being killed by the storm and 400,000 of the state’s residents being left without power.

Fueled by unusually high temperatures and little rain, the rampant wildfires in Canada’s western and eastern provinces burned 7.8 million hectares of forests, displaced 232,000 residents and cost more than $720 million in insurance damage. The fire’s smoke traveled as far as China and created a toxic orange hue that filled skies in areas as far south as New York City, prompting air quality alerts across the U.S.

Hawaii experienced its worst natural disaster in the state’s history when wildfires, fueled by low humidity, high wind gusts and a dry summer season, spread rapidly, mostly impacting Lahaina. The fires also claimed the lives of more than 100 people, produced $5.5 billion in damages and prompted an ongoing effort to resolve Hawaii’s affordable housing crisis, which experts say will take up to 20 years.

What started as a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean eventually strengthened into a category five hurricane that made landfall in the Caribbean, Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Texas’s Gulf Coast. Beryl made history as the earliest category five hurricane observed in the Atlantic on record, producing up to six inches of rainfall in Texas and destroying 90% of homes on Union Island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.