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Massachusetts Summary

U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters

CPI-Adjusted: All costs are adjusted for inflation to 2026 dollars using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI).

From 1982–2026, Massachusetts experienced 48 billion-dollar events totaling $10B–20B in CPI-adjusted costs. The costliest year was 1991 ($2B–5B), and the most active year by count was 2023 (4 events). Risk Score accounted for the largest share of costs, while Risk Score was most frequent. Over the last 5 years, annual CPI-adjusted costs were down 21% versus the long-term average.

Massachusetts Monthly Climatology of Billion-Dollar Disasters (45 years)

Monthly climatology of billion-dollar disasters
MonthDroughtFloodingFreezeSevere StormTropical CycloneWildfireWinter StormTotal
Jan10010079
Feb100500410
Mar11030027
Apr10040005
May10040005
Jun10030004
Jul11001003
Aug10015007
Sep10003004
Oct11001014
Nov10000001
Dec11100025

Massachusetts Monthly Probability of Billion-Dollar Disasters

Monthly probability of billion-dollar disasters
Month1+ Events2+ Events3+ Events4+ Events5+ Events
Jan18%2%0%0%0%
Feb20%2%0%0%0%
Mar16%0%0%0%0%
Apr11%0%0%0%0%
May11%0%0%0%0%
Jun7%2%0%0%0%
Jul7%0%0%0%0%
Aug13%2%0%0%0%
Sep9%0%0%0%0%
Oct9%0%0%0%0%
Nov2%0%0%0%0%
Dec11%0%0%0%0%
Total Events
48
Total Cost
$10B–20B
Average Cost / Event
$250M–500M

Massachusetts Cost (cumulative monthly)

Massachusetts Events (cumulative monthly)

Severe storm

Central and Eastern Tornado Outbreak and Severe Storms

Cost:$1.4B
On March 15 and 16, a tornado outbreak and severe storm system swept across multiple states in the Central and Eastern United States. On March 15 alone, more than 50 tornadoes were reported, with the greatest concentration across southern Illinois, western Kentucky, northeast Arkansas, and southeast Missouri. These storms caused widespread damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, and critical infrastructure. In many areas, communities also faced downed trees and power lines, leading to road closures and power outages.
Winter storm

Central and Eastern Winter Storm

Cost:$3.8B
Deaths:171
Between January 23 and 26, a major winter storm brought significant snow and ice across the Central and Eastern United States, extending into parts of the Deep South. The event was notable for its extreme cold, with daily record low temperatures recorded across Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. High winds, prolonged cold, and heavy snow and ice caused widespread damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles, along with extensive impacts to trees and power lines. In some areas, including parts of northern Mississippi, power outages persisted for more than two weeks.
Severe storm

Eastern Severe Storms

Cost:$1.9B
Deaths:1
The eastern U.S. was impacted by severe weather events between May 1 and 3 from a combination of high winds, damaging hail, and localized tornadoes. A strong frontal system swept from Texas to Massachusetts. There were reports of baseball to grapefruit-sized hail in Texas. The combination of severe hail and high winds caused damage to homes, vehicles, businesses, vegetation, and infrastructure while also causing power outages in New England states.
Severe storm

Central Tornado Outbreak and Eastern Severe Weather

Cost:$2.6B
Deaths:3
A central tornado outbreak produced more than 85 tornadoes across a three-day period from Oklahoma to West Virginia. This outbreak included 19 EF-0, 52 EF-1 and 14 EF-2 tornadoes, which were most concentrated across the Ohio River Valley on April 1-2. These tornadoes and severe weather impacts across several eastern states caused damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure.
Severe storm

Central and Eastern Severe Weather

Cost:$1.6B
Severe storms produced two dozen tornadoes, hail and high wind impacts across northern Illinois, central Ohio and southern Michigan. There were additional high wind impacts focused across northern Kentucky and northern Georgia causing damage to homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure.
Severe storm

Southern Tornado Outbreak and East Coast Storm

Cost:$2.9B
Deaths:3
Southern tornado outbreak and east coast storm impacted more than a dozen states. At least 39 preliminary tornadoes were clustered around the Florida Panhandle through the Carolinas while hundreds of high wind reports were scattered up the East Coast reflecting damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure. The strongest tornado was an EF-3 that caused significant damage around Panama City Beach, Florida, after an intense waterspout moved onshore.
Flooding

East Coast Storm and Flooding

Cost:$1.4B
Deaths:5
Powerful east coast storm from Florida to Maine produced widespread impacts from heavy rainfall, flooding, high winds and coastal erosion. The heavy rainfall and snowmelt were amplified by record-high temperatures in the Northeast.
Severe storm

Northeastern and Eastern Severe Weather

Cost:$1.8B
Deaths:4
More than one thousand reports of high wind, severe hail or tornadoes across many Northeastern and Eastern states. August 7 was a prolific day of severe weather with damage reports from Georgia to New York. These storms caused impacts to many homes, vehicles, businesses, agriculture and other infrastructure.
Flooding

Northeastern Flooding and North Central Severe Weather

Cost:$2.3B
Deaths:10
Severe storms brought devastation and flooding to portions of the Northeast, as areas reported up to eight inches of rain within a 24-hour period. Montpelier, Vermont received a record-breaking 5.28 inches of rain, flooding the city and damaging thousands of homes and businesses. The wide scale flooding in Vermont was similar to the flood impacts from Hurricane Irene in 2011. Early estimates put the flood damage in West Point, New York at more than $100 million. There was also considerable damage to roads, bridges and agriculture across the Northeast. Severe storms also caused high wind and hail impacts across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.
Winter storm

Northeastern Winter Storm/Cold Wave

Cost:$1.9B
Deaths:1
A strong winter storm produced snow, high winds and bitter cold across numerous Northeastern states. High winds caused widespread power outages in Massachusetts while Mount Washington, New Hampshire observed a wind chill temperature of -108 degrees Fahrenheit. This was one of the coldest wind chill temperatures ever recorded in the United States.
Winter storm

Central and Eastern Winter Storm and Cold Wave

Cost:$9.3B
Deaths:87
Historic winter storm and powerful arctic front caused significant impact across much of the nation, bringing heavy rains, snow, ice and high winds that sent temperatures plummeting. More than 200 million people were under a winter weather advisory or warning and more than a million customers, from Texas to Maine, were left without power. Buffalo, New York was paralyzed by near hurricane force winds and continuous snow squalls, which contributed to dozens of fatalities in the region. Additional impacts were widespread frozen water pipes that led to extensive water damage in many homes, businesses and to other critical infrastructure.
Tropical cyclone

Hurricane Ida

Cost:$87.5B
Deaths:96
Category 4 Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 930 mb. Ida was one of three hurricanes in recorded history to make landfall in Louisiana with 150 mph winds, along with Hurricane Laura in 2020 and the 'Last Island' hurricane of 1856. Grand Isle, Louisiana took a direct hit with 100% of its homes damaged and nearly 40% were nearly-to-completely destroyed. There was heavy damage to the energy infrastructure across southern Louisiana causing widespread, long duration power outages to millions of people. Parts of New Orleans were without power for nearly a week due to the widespread damage. As the remnants of Ida moved into the Northeast it merged with a frontal system creating severe weather and flash flooding across a wide region from eastern Pennsylvania to New York. Flash flood emergencies were declared in New Jersey and New York for the first time, producing damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and infrastructure while also causing dozens of fatalities.
Tropical cyclone

Tropical Storm Fred

Cost:$1.5B
Deaths:7
Tropical Storm Fred made landfall near Panama City, Florida. As Fred progressed northward it caused torrential flooding across the southern Appalachian Mountains with more than a foot of rainfall reported in some locations of western North Carolina. This flash flooding caused damage to many homes, businesses, vehicles, roads and bridges, in additional to several fatalities. Fred also produced nearly a dozen tornadoes across the Northeast as it moved up the East Coast.
Tropical cyclone

Tropical Storm Elsa

Cost:$1.5B
Deaths:1
Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Taylor County, Florida producing heavy rain, wind, flooding and tornadoes in portions of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, as well as flooding across parts of the Northeast. Southern New England and New York's Long Island experienced flash flooding, leading to impassable roads, stranded vehicles and disruption. Elsa was the earliest fifth-named storm on record.
Tropical cyclone

Hurricane Isaias

Cost:$6.0B
Deaths:16
Hurricane Isaias made landfall in southeastern North Carolina as a category 1 storm. Isaias accelerated up the East Coast, resulting in widespread damage and power outages across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. There was also considerable inland flooding most notably in Pennsylvania. In addition, 34 tornadoes developed across North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey due to Isaias. Many tornadoes were weaker (EF-0 and EF-1) producing scattered damage to agriculture, structures and residences. Isaias also produced several EF-2 tornadoes and one EF-3 tornado that caused damage in coastal North Carolina and Virginia.
Severe storm

Southeast and Eastern Tornado Outbreak

Cost:$4.4B
Deaths:35
Outbreak of at least 140 tornadoes from Texas to Maryland including 3 EF4s, 12 EF3s, 20 EF2s, 77 EF1s and 28 EF0s. Damage was extensive and highly destructive to many homes, vehicles and businesses across more than a dozen Southeast and Eastern states.
Severe storm

South, East and Northeast Severe Weather

Cost:$1.6B
Deaths:3
Severe weather across many South, East and Northeastern states including AL, FL, GA, SC, LA, MS, TN, NC, VA, PA, RI, NY, NJ, MD and MA. There were more than 20 tornadoes clustered across central Mississippi into Tennessee. There were also hundreds of high wind damage reports from Florida to New Jersey, with the Carolinas and Florida receiving the most costly damage.
Severe storm

Southeast, Ohio Valley and Northeast Severe Weather

Cost:$1.6B
Deaths:2
Tornadoes, severe weather and flooding in the south (MS, AL, TN) and high-wind damage across many Ohio Valley (IL, IN, OH) and Northeastern states (CT, MD, MA, NJ, NY, PA, VA, WV). This storm system produced heavy rain that caused major flooding along parts of the Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessee rivers.
Severe storm

Central and Eastern Severe Weather

Cost:$1.8B
Deaths:5
Severe storm damage across many Central states including TX, KS, CO, OK, MO, IL, IN, IA and OH. This was followed by a derecho event across the Northeastern states of MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA, WV, MA and CT that caused widespread high wind damage. Also, there were one dozen tornadoes reported across PA, NY and CT causing further damage.
Winter storm

Northeast Winter Storm

Cost:$2.9B
Deaths:9
Powerful Nor'easter impacted many Northeastern states including MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, CT, DE, RA and VA. Widespread damage resulted from the combination of high winds, heavy snow and heavy coastal erosion.
Winter storm

Central and Eastern Winter Storm

Cost:$1.4B
Deaths:22
A Nor'easter caused damage across many Northeastern states including MA, NJ, NY, CT, ME, NH, PA, MD, RI, SC, TN, VA, NC and GA.
Drought

West/Northeast/Southeast Drought

Cost:$4.8B
California's 5-year drought persisted during 2016 while new areas of extreme drought developed in states across the Northeast and Southeast. The long-term impacts of the drought in California have damaged forests where 100+ million trees have perished and are a public safety hazard. The agricultural impacts were reduced in California as water prices and crop fallowing declined. However, agricultural impacts developed in Northeast and Southeast due to stressed water supplies.
Severe storm

Southeast and Eastern Tornadoes

Cost:$1.4B
Deaths:10
Early outbreak of tornadoes and severe weather across many southern and eastern states including (AL, CT, FL, GA, LA, MA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, NY, PA, SC, TX, VA). There were at least 50 confirmed tornadoes causing widespread damage.
Winter storm

Central and Eastern Winter storm, Cold Wave

Cost:$4.1B
Deaths:30
A large winter storm and associated cold wave impacted many central, eastern and northeastern states (CT, DE, GA, IL, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA). The city of Boston was particularly impacted as feet of snow continued to accumulate causing load-stress on buildings and clogging transportation corridors. Total, direct losses in Massachusetts alone exceed $1.0 billion for this event, with considerable damage in many other states.
Tropical cyclone

Hurricane Sandy

Cost:$91.7B
Deaths:159
Extensive damage across several northeastern states (MD, DE, NJ, NY, CT, MA, RI) due to high wind and coastal storm surge, particularly NY and NJ. Damage from wind, rain and heavy snow also extended more broadly to other states (NC, VA, WV, OH, PA, NH), as Sandy merged with a developing Nor'easter. Sandy's impact on major population centers caused widespread interruption to critical water/electrical services and also caused 159 deaths (72 direct, 87 indirect). Sandy also caused the New York Stock Exchange to close for two consecutive business days, which last happened in 1888 due to a major winter storm.
Winter storm

Northeastern Winter Storm

Cost:$1.3B
Deaths:1
Winter storm impacts northeastern states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hamsphire, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Tropical cyclone

Hurricane Irene

Cost:$19.4B
Deaths:45
Category 1 hurricane made landfall over coastal NC and moved northward along the Mid-Atlantic Coast (NC, VA, MD, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, VT) causing torrential rainfall and flooding across the Northeast. Wind damage in coastal NC, VA, and MD was moderate with considerable damage resulting from falling trees and power lines, while flooding caused extensive flood damage across NJ, NY, and VT. Over seven million homes and businesses lost power during the storm. Numerous tornadoes were also reported in several states further adding to the damage.
Winter storm

Groundhog Day Blizzard

Cost:$2.7B
Deaths:36
A large winter storm impacted many central, eastern and northeastern states. The city of Chicago was brought to a virtual standstill as between 1 and 2 feet of snow fell over the area.
Flooding

Northeast Flooding

Cost:$2.8B
Deaths:11
Heavy rainfall over portions of the Northeast in late March caused extensive flooding across several states (RI, CT, MA, NJ, NY, PA). The event caused the worst flooding in Rhode Island's history.
Severe storm

East/South Severe Weather and Flooding

Cost:$4.0B
Deaths:9
Flooding, hail, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms across numerous states (CT, DE, GA, LA, ME, MD, MA, MS, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, SC, TX, VT, VA) in mid-April, including 3 "killer" tornadoes.
Tropical cyclone

Hurricane Floyd

Cost:$12.7B
Deaths:77
Large, category 2 hurricane makes landfall in eastern NC, causing 10-20 inch rains in 2 days, with severe flooding in NC and some flooding in SC, VA, MD, PA, NY, NJ, DE, RI, CT, MA, NH, and VT.
Winter storm

Central and Eastern Winter Storm

Cost:$1.8B
Winter storm affecting the Central and Eastern states including IL, IN, OH, MI, WV, VA, MD, PA, NJ, NY, MA, CT, VT, NH and ME.
Winter storm

Central and Eastern Winter Storm

Cost:$2.0B
Deaths:25
South, Southeast, Midwest, Northeast affected by damaging winter storm
Severe storm

Central and Eastern Severe Storms and Flooding

Cost:$1.8B
Deaths:12
Severe storms and flooding impact numerous Central and Eastern states. In particular, these storms and floods affected many residences and businesses throughout north-central and eastern Ohio. More than 7,000 homes were affected and more than 1,000 structures were completely destroyed or declared uninhabitable.
Severe storm

Northern Plains and Great Lakes Derecho, Tornadoes

Cost:$2.3B
Deaths:20
Severe storms in late May through early June hit the Midwest, North, Northeast, and Southeast
Severe storm

Mississippi and Ohio Valley Severe Weather and Flooding

Cost:$2.0B
Deaths:67
Tornadoes and severe flooding hit the states of AR, MO, MS, TN, IL, IN, KY, OH, and WV, with over 10 inches of rain in 24 hours in Louisville.
Flooding

New England Flooding

Cost:$1.4B
Deaths:1
The flooding damaged homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure. Factories and mills in Lawrence, Haverhill and Lowell, Massachusetts were severely impacted. A total of 81 bridges needed to be rebuilt after to flood on area lakes and rivers. Communities such as Ocean Park, Old Orchard Beach and Westbrook were severely flooded. Communitites in southern Maine were aslo significantly damaged by floodwaters destroying homes, businesses and washing out raods, bridges and dams.
Winter storm

Blizzard/Floods

Cost:$6.4B
Deaths:187
Very heavy snowstorm (1-4 feet) over Appalachians, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast; followed by severe flooding in parts of same area due to rain and snowmelt.
Winter storm

Southeast Ice Storm

Cost:$6.7B
Deaths:9
Intense ice storm with extensive damage in portions of TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, GA, SC, NC, and VA.
Winter storm

Winter Storm, Cold Wave

Cost:$2.3B
Deaths:70
Winter storm affects the Southeast and Northeast regions. The states impacted include CT, DE, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT and WV.
Winter storm

East Coast Blizzard and Severe Weather

Cost:$12.6B
Deaths:270
The "Storm of the Century" impacts the entire Eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine. This historic storm dumped 2-4 feet of snow and caused hurricane force winds across many Eastern and Northeastern states. This caused power outages to over 10 million households. Additional impacts included numerous tornadoes across Florida causing substantial damage. This was the most destructive and costly winter storm to affect the United States (since 1980), until it was surpassed by the February 2021 winter storm and cold wave.
Winter storm

Northeast Winter Storm

Cost:$5.7B
Deaths:19
Slow-moving winter storm batters northeast U.S. coast, with the New England region hardest hit. The states impacted include VA, MD, DE, PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA and WV.
Tropical cyclone

Hurricane Bob

Cost:$3.6B
Deaths:18
Category 2 hurricane brushes the Outer Banks of North Carolina before making landfall in Rhode Island. Its impacts were felt from North Carolina to Long Island and into New England.
Tropical cyclone

Hurricane Gloria

Cost:$2.6B
Deaths:11
Category 2 hurricane makes several landfalls along the eastern seaboard, affecting states from North Carolina to Maine.
Severe storm

Tornadoes, Severe Storms, Floods

Cost:$1.9B
Deaths:80
States in the Southeast and Northeast regions are impacted by tornadoes, severe storms, and flooding. The states impacted include GA, FL, SC, NC, VA, MD, DE, NJ, NY, PA, CT, MA and RI.
Freeze

Freeze/Cold Wave

Cost:$6.7B
Deaths:151
Severe freeze damages citrus crops across central/northern Florida. Associated cold wave over much of the U.S. causes over 100 deaths and additional damages.
Severe storm

Severe Storms

Cost:$1.6B
Deaths:30
Severe storms cause damage across the South, Southeast and Central regions. The states impacted include AR, IL, KY, IN, SC, GA and OH.
Winter storm

Midwest/Southeast/Northeast Winter Storm, Cold Wave

Cost:$2.3B
Deaths:85
Winter storm and cold wave affect numerous states (AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV) across the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast.
Showing 48 events

About State-Level Data

State-level summaries and charts on this page are derived from authoritative data that assigns costs to each affected state for every billion-dollar disaster. Those state-specific costs are shown only as binned ranges. The event cards and table list each disaster's full event cost rather than an exact state allocation.

Climate Central maintains this comprehensive database tracking U.S. weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including Consumer Price Index adjustment). As the steward of this dataset, Climate Central is committed to maintaining the scientific rigor and methodological standards established by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) while enhancing the dataset's utility for climate communication and public understanding of climate risks.

For more information on methodology and data sources, please visit the main Billion-Dollar Disasters page.