Overview
- The relaunched analysis finds 14 separate events caused about $101.4 billion in direct losses from January through June, the costliest first half since records began in 1980.
- January’s Los Angeles wildfires account for an estimated $61.2 billion, making them the most expensive wildfires on record, while severe storms and tornado outbreaks drove much of the remaining damage.
- NOAA ended updates to its Billion-Dollar Disasters database in May, and the agency said it welcomes the dataset finding non-taxpayer funding as Senate Democrats pursue a stalled bill to mandate federal updates.
- Climate Central is using the same public and private data sources and inflation-adjusted methodology focused on direct damages, which excludes indirect economic, health, and environmental costs.
- The update covers only January–June 2025 and will be maintained going forward, with plans to broaden tracking to events costing at least $100 million.