Historical reference
Deadliest US storms of each decade
A century of US weather disasters, decade by decade. Some names you know. Some you have never heard. All shaped the systems, buildings, and warnings we have today.
1920s
- 1925 Tri-State Tornado — 695 dead across MO, IL, IN. Still the deadliest single US tornado.
- 1926 Great Miami Hurricane — Cat 4, 372 dead.
- 1927 Great Mississippi Flood — 500+ dead, 630,000 displaced.
- 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane — Cat 4 struck Florida, 2,500+ dead.
1930s
- 1935 Labor Day Hurricane — Cat 5, 408 dead in Florida Keys.
- 1936 North American heat wave — 5,000+ dead nationwide.
- 1936 Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak — 454 dead, back-to-back F5s.
- 1938 New England Hurricane — Cat 3 no one saw coming, 682 dead.
- 1930s Dust Bowl — decade-long drought, thousands dead from respiratory illness.
1940s
- 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane — Cat 4, 390 dead.
- 1947 Woodward tornado — F5, 181 dead in Oklahoma.
- 1948 Vanport Flood — Columbia River flood, 15 dead.
- 1949 Big Blow — Pacific Northwest windstorm.
1950s
- 1953 Waco F5 — 114 dead in Texas.
- 1953 Flint-Beecher F5 — 116 dead in Michigan.
- 1953 Worcester F4 — 94 dead in Massachusetts.
- 1954 Hurricane Hazel — 95 dead in the US.
- 1955 Udall F5 — 80 dead in Kansas.
- 1957 Hurricane Audrey — 416 dead in Louisiana.
1960s
- 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak — 271 dead across the Midwest.
- 1966 Jackson MS F5 — 57 dead.
- 1969 Hurricane Camille — Cat 5 Mississippi landfall, 259 dead.
1970s
- 1974 Super Outbreak — 335 dead, 148 tornadoes in 18 hours.
- 1979 Wichita Falls F4 ("Terrible Tuesday") — 42 dead in Texas.
- 1977 Toccoa Falls flood — dam collapse, 39 dead.
- 1972 Hurricane Agnes — 128 dead across the mid-Atlantic.
1980s
- 1980 Grand Island tornadoes — 5 dead in one town, 7 tornadoes.
- 1988 Yellowstone fires — no direct fatalities but historic.
- 1988 US heat wave and drought — 5,000-10,000 dead.
- 1985 Wheatland F5 — 16 dead in Pennsylvania.
- 1989 Hurricane Hugo — Cat 4 Charleston SC, 49 dead.
1990s
- 1992 Hurricane Andrew — Cat 5, 65 dead in Florida.
- 1993 Storm of the Century — 318 dead across eastern US, largest single-weather-event fatality total of the decade.
- 1995 Chicago heat wave — 739 dead in five days.
- 1998 US heat wave — 200+ dead.
- 1999 Bridge Creek-Moore F5 — 36 dead. 301 mph winds — highest ever measured.
2000s
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina — 1,833 dead. Costliest US natural disaster ever.
- 2005 Hurricane Rita — 120 dead (evacuation heat deaths included).
- 2007 Greensburg EF5 — 11 dead.
- 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak — 57 dead.
- 2003 European heat wave — 70,000+ dead (not US but relevant).
2010s
- 2011 Super Outbreak (April 25-28) — 324 dead, 360 tornadoes.
- 2011 Joplin EF5 — 158 dead, deadliest single tornado since 1947.
- 2012 Superstorm Sandy — 233 dead, $70B damage.
- 2013 Moore EF5 — 24 dead in Oklahoma.
- 2017 Hurricane Harvey — 107 dead in Texas.
- 2017 Hurricane Maria — 2,975 dead in Puerto Rico.
- 2018 Camp Fire — 85 dead in Paradise CA.
2020s
- 2020 Nashville-Cookeville tornadoes — 25 dead.
- 2021 Winter Storm Uri — 246 dead across Texas.
- 2021 Mayfield-Quad State tornadoes (Dec) — 89 dead.
- 2022 Hurricane Ian — 156 dead in Florida.
- 2023 Rolling Fork EF4 — 26 dead in Mississippi.
- 2024 Hurricane Helene — 230+ dead across Southeast US.