US Records Costliest Weather Disasters in First Half 2025

The first half of 2025 was the costliest period for weather and climate disasters in U.S. history, with 14 events each causing over $1 billion in damages, totaling approximately $101 billion. The most devastating was the Southern California wildfires in January, which caused $61 billion in damages, destroying around 16,000 buildings and ranking as the 10th costliest climate disaster in the nation's history. These figures were revealed and tracked by the nonprofit Climate Central, which revived the data monitoring efforts after the Trump administration cut funding and ended the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) program earlier in the year. The rise in extreme weather events, including tornado outbreaks and severe storms, underscores the increasing financial and human toll of climate change, which is exacerbated by reduced federal support for climate science under President Trump's administration. Climate Central continues to use NOAA's methodology to maintain the disaster database, highlighting the growing need for accurate data to inform planning amid worsening climate impacts. This shift towards nonprofit organizations managing climate data reflects broader concerns about the federal government's scaling back of environmental monitoring and clean energy initiatives.