Top 10 US Weather Events for 2019 and the 2010s decade
Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 6:04 pm
It's the end of the decade so I have two separate lists here. The top 10 weather events (as I have analyzed) in the United States for 2019 in the first list and the entire 2010s decade in the second list.
For 2019
1 - March storm and flooding: A record-breaking "bomb cyclone" storm in the Plains leads to a major blizzard and catastrophic flooding, with Nebraska hardest hit, in late winter (March 12-15, flooding continued through spring)
2 - May tornadoes: An endless string of tornadoes spawned by countless waves in the second half of May led to damage and destruction in many communities in the Plains and Midwest (May 17-31)
3 - Extreme cold Plains winter: The northern Rockies were brutally cold this winter and that cold spread into the Plains and Midwest into late January with the infamous "polar vortex" as well (January to April)
4 - March tornadoes: After a relatively quiet 2018 for significant tornadoes, a deadly tornado outbreak in the Deep South led to 23 deaths in a single county amidst other destruction (March 3)
5 - Hurricane Dorian: While the impacts were much less severe than the catastrophe in the Bahamas, it was still a significant storm for the Southeast coast (September 2-6)
6 - Tropical Storm Imelda: Yes, it was a very weak storm. However, it caused major flooding in Texas just two years after the biblical floods of Hurricane Harvey (September 13-15)
7 - Arkansas flooding: While the tornadoes (and other storms) were ongoing in the spring and summer, major flooding occurred in the Arkansas River basin with record floods at some locations (May to July)
8 - Coast to coast Thanksgiving storm: Starting as a record-breaking storm for California, it produced all kinds of weather including severe and winter weather across virtually the entire country (November 26 to December 2)
9 - Fall warmth: September and early October saw record warm weather across the eastern and southeastern states, with the peak coming the first week of October with all time records for the month broken in many places (Early September to mid-October)
10 - Western wildfires: After two catastrophic wildfire seasons, 2019 was less active (with blackouts involved!) but still quite severe for many areas, especially in California (Entire year 2019)
Globally, I would say that Cyclone Idai was the biggest weather event of 2019.
For the 2010s decade
1 - Hurricane Maria: You could argue that this should be for the 48 or 50 states, but the humanitarian impact was like no other event and comparable to Katrina. Puerto Rico is still recovering even over 2 years later (September 19-26, 2017)
2 - April 2011 Super Outbreak: In most of our lifetimes, there had never been a tornado outbreak like the last week of April 2011, capping off an incredible month and destroying dozens of communities, changing severe weather science forever (April 25-28, 2011)
3 - Hurricane Harvey: There is simply no comparison to the flooding that occurred in southeast Texas during Hurricane Harvey. Watching rainbands stall over a major metropolitan region for a week led to catastrophic flooding and impacts still being felt (August 25-31, 2017)
4 - California wildfire seasons: 2017 and 2018 especially were record-breaking for California and exceptionally deadly. Seeing the two worst years back to back should be a catalyst for change and a reminder of the vulnerability (Summer 2017 through Fall 2018)
5 - Joplin tornado: With the images of the previous outbreak fresh, watching another catastrophic tornado hit another urban area was terrifying and the death toll was beyond anything we've seen in generations as part of a horrible season (May 22, 2011)
6 - Hurricane Sandy: The great storm for the Northeast in this century with everything (even snow) as part of its enormous breadth but seeing a catastrophic storm surge inundate the most populated part of the country is an image that won't ever go away (October 26-31, 2012)
7 - Multi-year droughts: The middle part of the decade was incredibly dry in the west, especially in California. We thought it may turn into a desert before the rain returned, while other droughts extended into the Plains (Entire years 2012 to 2015)
8 - Back-to-back extreme cold winters: While the west was dry, the east was freezing for much of the winters of 2013-14 and 2014-15. The former was more in the Midwest and Plains, the latter in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. (Fall 2013 through Spring 2015)
9 - Hurricane Michael: The damage was extreme in the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia. However, the historical nature was especially noteworthy as the first category 5 hurricane to hit the CONUS in a generation (October 10-11, 2018)
10 - Louisiana floods: It didn't come from a named storm, however, the worst overland flooding event that Louisiana had seen in a long time inundated the southern part of the state in the summer of 2016 - only to be exceeded farther west by Harvey the next year (August 8-25, 2016)
Globally, the event of the decade, which I think few would dispute, was Typhoon Haiyan.
For 2019
1 - March storm and flooding: A record-breaking "bomb cyclone" storm in the Plains leads to a major blizzard and catastrophic flooding, with Nebraska hardest hit, in late winter (March 12-15, flooding continued through spring)
2 - May tornadoes: An endless string of tornadoes spawned by countless waves in the second half of May led to damage and destruction in many communities in the Plains and Midwest (May 17-31)
3 - Extreme cold Plains winter: The northern Rockies were brutally cold this winter and that cold spread into the Plains and Midwest into late January with the infamous "polar vortex" as well (January to April)
4 - March tornadoes: After a relatively quiet 2018 for significant tornadoes, a deadly tornado outbreak in the Deep South led to 23 deaths in a single county amidst other destruction (March 3)
5 - Hurricane Dorian: While the impacts were much less severe than the catastrophe in the Bahamas, it was still a significant storm for the Southeast coast (September 2-6)
6 - Tropical Storm Imelda: Yes, it was a very weak storm. However, it caused major flooding in Texas just two years after the biblical floods of Hurricane Harvey (September 13-15)
7 - Arkansas flooding: While the tornadoes (and other storms) were ongoing in the spring and summer, major flooding occurred in the Arkansas River basin with record floods at some locations (May to July)
8 - Coast to coast Thanksgiving storm: Starting as a record-breaking storm for California, it produced all kinds of weather including severe and winter weather across virtually the entire country (November 26 to December 2)
9 - Fall warmth: September and early October saw record warm weather across the eastern and southeastern states, with the peak coming the first week of October with all time records for the month broken in many places (Early September to mid-October)
10 - Western wildfires: After two catastrophic wildfire seasons, 2019 was less active (with blackouts involved!) but still quite severe for many areas, especially in California (Entire year 2019)
Globally, I would say that Cyclone Idai was the biggest weather event of 2019.
For the 2010s decade
1 - Hurricane Maria: You could argue that this should be for the 48 or 50 states, but the humanitarian impact was like no other event and comparable to Katrina. Puerto Rico is still recovering even over 2 years later (September 19-26, 2017)
2 - April 2011 Super Outbreak: In most of our lifetimes, there had never been a tornado outbreak like the last week of April 2011, capping off an incredible month and destroying dozens of communities, changing severe weather science forever (April 25-28, 2011)
3 - Hurricane Harvey: There is simply no comparison to the flooding that occurred in southeast Texas during Hurricane Harvey. Watching rainbands stall over a major metropolitan region for a week led to catastrophic flooding and impacts still being felt (August 25-31, 2017)
4 - California wildfire seasons: 2017 and 2018 especially were record-breaking for California and exceptionally deadly. Seeing the two worst years back to back should be a catalyst for change and a reminder of the vulnerability (Summer 2017 through Fall 2018)
5 - Joplin tornado: With the images of the previous outbreak fresh, watching another catastrophic tornado hit another urban area was terrifying and the death toll was beyond anything we've seen in generations as part of a horrible season (May 22, 2011)
6 - Hurricane Sandy: The great storm for the Northeast in this century with everything (even snow) as part of its enormous breadth but seeing a catastrophic storm surge inundate the most populated part of the country is an image that won't ever go away (October 26-31, 2012)
7 - Multi-year droughts: The middle part of the decade was incredibly dry in the west, especially in California. We thought it may turn into a desert before the rain returned, while other droughts extended into the Plains (Entire years 2012 to 2015)
8 - Back-to-back extreme cold winters: While the west was dry, the east was freezing for much of the winters of 2013-14 and 2014-15. The former was more in the Midwest and Plains, the latter in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. (Fall 2013 through Spring 2015)
9 - Hurricane Michael: The damage was extreme in the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia. However, the historical nature was especially noteworthy as the first category 5 hurricane to hit the CONUS in a generation (October 10-11, 2018)
10 - Louisiana floods: It didn't come from a named storm, however, the worst overland flooding event that Louisiana had seen in a long time inundated the southern part of the state in the summer of 2016 - only to be exceeded farther west by Harvey the next year (August 8-25, 2016)
Globally, the event of the decade, which I think few would dispute, was Typhoon Haiyan.