Draft:List of weather events considered the most significant

This is a list of weather events considered to be the most significant in which reliable sources, surveys or academic assessments consider criteria such as, but not limited to, how impactful the event was, how deadly the event was, the impact on science, or other specific criteria. These events may be referred to as most important, most iconic, most signficiant, or the worst—but they are all considered key events in the history of meteorology. For an event to be listed here, it must be cited by either one all-time assessment, two decade-based assessments, or four yearly-based assessments.

19th century

1800s

1810s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
1815 New England hurricane	September 22–24, 1815	New England, and New York		^{[a 1]}
Year Without a Summer	Summer 1816	Global		^{[a 1]}

1820s

1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
Great Lakes Storm of November 16–20, 1868	November 16–20, 1868	Great Lakes region		^{[a 1]}

1870s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
Locust Plague of 1874	1874	United States, Canada		^{[a 1]}

1880s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
Schoolhouse Blizzard	January 12–13, 1888	Midwestern United States		^{[a 1]}
Great Blizzard of 1888	March 11–14, 1888	Eastern United States, Eastern Canada		^{[a 1]}

1890s

20th century

1900s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
1900 Galveston hurricane	August 27–September 11, 1900	Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles (Dominican Republic and Cuba landfalls), Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahamas, Gulf Coast of the United States (Texas landfall), Midwestern United States, Mid-Atlantic, New England, Eastern Canada		^{[a 1]}

1910s

1920s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
1925 Tri-State tornado	March 18, 1925	Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana		^{[a 1]}
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927	1926–1929 (particularly 1927)	Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas		^{[a 1]}

1930s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
Dust Bowl	1933–1939	United States, Canada		^{[a 1]}
Ohio River flood of 1937	January–February 1937	Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia		^{[a 1]}

1940s

1950s

1960s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak	April 10–12, 1965	Southern and Midwestern United States (Upland South, Driftless Area, and Great Lakes region, primarily Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan)		^{[a 2]}

1970s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
Tornado outbreak sequence of May 22–31, 1973	May 22–31, 1973	United States (particularly Oklahoma and Alabama)		^{[a 2]}
1974 Super Outbreak	April 3–4, 1974	Midwestern and Southern United States, Ontario, Canada		^{[a 2]}

1980s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
Tornado outbreak of April 2–3, 1982	April 2–3, 1982	Midwestern and Southern United States (primarily Ark-La-Tex region, Red River Valley, Piney Woods)		^{[a 2]}

1990s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
Tornado outbreak of November 21–23, 1992	November 21–23, 1992	Southeastern United States, Ohio Valley		^{[a 2]}
1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak	May 2–8, 1999	Midwestern (particularly Oklahoma), Southern United States, Great Plains		^{[a 2]}

21st century

2000s


Event	Date	Location	Cited survey(s)
2003 European heatwave	July–August 2003	Europe	^{[d 1]}
Hurricane Jeanne	September 13–29, 2004	U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bahamas, Florida, Eastern United States	^{[d 1]}
Hurricane Katrina	August 23–31, 2005	Bahamas, South Florida, Central Florida and the Florida Panhandle, Cuba, Louisiana (especially Greater New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, most of the Eastern United States, Eastern Canada	^{[d 1]}
Cyclone Sidr	November 11–16, 2007	Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, West Bengal, Northeast India, Southwest China	^{[d 1]}
2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak	February 5–6, 2008	Southern United States, Lower Ohio River Valley	^{[a 2]}
Cyclone Nargis	April 27–May 3, 2008	Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, China	^{[d 1]}

2010s


Event	Date	Location	Notes	Cited survey(s)
2011 Super Outbreak	April 25–28, 2011	Southern, Midwestern, Eastern United States		^{[a 2]}^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
2011 Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado	April 27, 2011	Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, Tanner, Harvest in Alabama and Huntland, Tennessee	An EF5 tornado which occurred during the 2011 Super Outbreak.	^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}
2011 Smithville tornado	April 27 2011	Smithville, Mississippi	An EF5 tornado which occurred during the 2011 Super Outbreak.	^{[d 2]}
2011 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado	April 27, 2011	Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, Alabama	An EF4 tornado which occurred during the 2011 Super Outbreak.	^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}
Tornado outbreak sequence of May 21–26, 2011	May 21–26, 2011	Midwestern United States, Southern United States		^{[a 2]}
2011 Joplin tornado	May 22, 2011	Joplin, Missouri		^{[a 2]}^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}
Hurricane Sandy	October 22–November 2, 2012	Greater Antilles, Bahamas, most of the eastern United States (especially the coastal Mid-Atlantic States), Bermuda, eastern Canada		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
2013 Bethel Acres–Shawnee tornado	May 19, 2013			^{[d 3]}
2013 Moore tornado	May 20, 2013	Moore, Oklahoma		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
2013 El Reno tornado	May 31, 2013	El Reno, Oklahoma		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
January 2014 Gulf Coast winter storm	January 27–31, 2014	Southern United States, Eastern United States, Mexico	A winter storm which crippled the southeastern United States, killed 13 people, and injured at least 180 others.^[1]^[2]	^{[d 2]}^{[d 4]}
January 2015 North American blizzard	January 23–31, 2015	Pacific Northwest, Central United States, Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada, Southern Greenland, Portugal, Spain, France		^{[d 3]}
January 31 – February 2, 2015 North American blizzard	January 31–February 2, 2015	High Plains, Ohio Valley, Central United States, New England		^{[d 3]}
2015 Early February winter storm	February 8–10, 2015	Massachusetts		^{[d 3]}
February 14–15, 2015 North American blizzard	February 12–17, 2015	Northeast United States, New England, Canada (partial)		^{[d 3]}
Hurricane Joaquin	September 28–October 15, 2015	Lucayan Archipelago (especially The Bahamas), Cuba, Haiti, Southeastern United States (especially Florida and The Carolinas), Bermuda, Azores, Iberian Peninsula, Morocco		^{[d 4]}
October 2015 North American storm complex	September 29–October 7, 2015	Eastern United States (especially South Carolina), Atlantic Canada	Historic flooding occurred in South Carolina, with 27 inches (69 cm) of rainfall.^[3]	^{[d 2]}
Hurricane Matthew	October 9–16, 2016	Windward Islands, Leeward Antilles, Venezuela, Colombia, Greater Antilles (Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba), Lucayan Archipelago (Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas), Southeastern United States, Atlantic Canada		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
Hurricane Harvey	August 17–September 2, 2017	Windward Islands, Suriname, Guyana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Cayman Islands, Yucatán Peninsula, Southern and Eastern United States (especially Texas and Louisiana)		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
Hurricane Florence	August 31–September 18, 2017	West Africa, Cape Verde, Bermuda, East Coast of the United States (especially the Carolinas), Atlantic Canada		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
Hurricane Maria	September 16–October 2, 2017	Lesser Antilles (especially Dominica and the U.S. Virgin Islands), Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas, Southeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic states	Considered the worst weather event to occur during the 2010s.	^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
Hurricane Michael	October 7–16, 2017	Central America, Yucatán Peninsula, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Southeastern United States (especially the Florida Panhandle and Georgia), Eastern United States, Eastern Canada, Iberian Peninsula		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
October 2017 Northern California wildfires	October 8–31, 2017	Northern California, particularly Sonoma County and Napa County		^{[d 2]}^{[d 4]}
Carr Fire	July 23–August 30, 2018	Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area, California		^{[d 2]}
Camp Fire	November 8–25, 2018	Butte County, California		^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}^{[d 4]}
2019 Alaska and Hawaii heatwaves	2019	Alaska and Hawaii		^{[d 3]}
March 2019 North American blizzard	March 8–16, 2019	Southwestern United States, Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, Central United States, Eastern United States, Eastern Canada		^{[d 2]}^{[d 4]}
Hurricane Dorian	August 24–September 10, 2019	Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas (especially the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama), Eastern United States (especially Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina), Eastern Canada		^{[d 4]}

2020s

[1][2][3][4][5]


Event	Date	Location	Cited survey(s)
Hurricane Laura
Hurricane Ida
2022 Eastern Kentucky floods
Hurricane Ian
2022–2023 California floods	December 26, 2022 – March 25, 2023	Southern California, the California Central Coast, Northern California and Nevada	^{[y 1]}^{[y 2]}^{[y 3]}^{[y 4]}^{[y 5]}
2023 Canadian wildfires	March–October 2023	Canada (all 13 provinces and territories)	^{[y 1]}^{[y 2]}^{[y 3]}^{[y 4]}^{[y 5]}
2023 Western North America heat wave	April–May 2023	Western North America	^{[y 1]}^{[y 2]}^{[y 4]}^{[y 5]}
2023 Hawaii wildfires	August 8–16, 2023	Hawaii (particularly the island of Maui)	^{[y 1]}^{[y 2]}^{[y 3]}^{[y 4]}^{[y 5]}
Hurricane Hilary	August 16–21, 2023	Western Mexico, Revillagigedo Islands, Baja California peninsula, Western United States	^{[y 1]}^{[y 3]}^{[y 4]}^{[y 5]}
Hurricane Idalia	August 26–September 8, 2023	Yucatán Peninsula, Cayman Islands, Western Cuba, Southeastern United States, Bermuda, Atlantic Canada	^{[y 1]}^{[y 2]}^{[y 3]}^{[y 4]}^{[y 5]}

Sources

These surveys and assessments of the history of meteorology or various weather events determine which events are included in the list; sorted by assessments of all time, a specific decade, or a specific year.

All time

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Taylor, Maureen A. (2021). "10 Historic Weather Events and How They Impacted Your Ancestors". Family Tree Magazine. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Forbes, Gregory S. (December 16, 2019). "10 Worst U.S. Tornado Outbreaks". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

Decade

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Johnson, Caitlin; Brayton, Rebecca (2023). "10 Worst Natural Disasters Of The 2000s". WatchMojo. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Erdman, Jonathan (December 13, 2019). "The 10 Most Unforgettable Weather Disasters of the 2010s". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Cappucci, Matthew (December 30, 2019). "Here are the 10 most extreme U.S. weather events of the 2010s". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Newman, Katelyn (December 27, 2019). "Unforgettable U.S. Natural Disasters of the 2010s". U.S. News. U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

Year

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Yablonski, Steven; Barker, Aaron (December 28, 2023). "Wild weather of 2023: Look back at the year's biggest stories". Fox Weather. Fox Corporation. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Danielle, Monica (December 26, 2023). "The top 10 most impactful weather events of 2023". AccuWeather. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Rao, Devika (December 26, 2023). "Extreme weather events in the last year". The Week. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gilbert, Mary (December 30, 2023). "The year's most extreme weather shows what a warming planet is capable of, and what's to come". CNN. Archived from the original on June 23, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Looking Back at the Top 10 Weather Events of 2023". WeatherNation TV. January 2024. Archived from the original on June 23, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.

Additional references

^ "North and Central Georgia Winter Storm: January 28-29, 201". National Weather Service. January 30, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
^ Henry, Ray (January 29, 2014). "Winter storm causes wrecks, gridlock in the South". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
^ Jason Krekeler (October 5, 2015). Storm Summary Number 13 for Southeast U.S. Heavy Rain and Coastal Storm (Report). Weather Prediction Center. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.

[FamilyTree-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Taylor, Maureen A. (2021). "10 Historic Weather Events and How They Impacted Your Ancestors". Family Tree Magazine. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[TWCWorstOutbreaks-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Forbes, Gregory S. (December 16, 2019). "10 Worst U.S. Tornado Outbreaks". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[WM2000s-3] Johnson, Caitlin; Brayton, Rebecca (2023). "10 Worst Natural Disasters Of The 2000s". WatchMojo. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[TWC2010s-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Erdman, Jonathan (December 13, 2019). "The 10 Most Unforgettable Weather Disasters of the 2010s". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[Cappucci2010s-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Cappucci, Matthew (December 30, 2019). "Here are the 10 most extreme U.S. weather events of the 2010s". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[USNews2010s-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Newman, Katelyn (December 27, 2019). "Unforgettable U.S. Natural Disasters of the 2010s". U.S. News. U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[Fox2023-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Yablonski, Steven; Barker, Aaron (December 28, 2023). "Wild weather of 2023: Look back at the year's biggest stories". Fox Weather. Fox Corporation. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[AccuWeather2023-11] Danielle, Monica (December 26, 2023). "The top 10 most impactful weather events of 2023". AccuWeather. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[TheWeek2023-12] Rao, Devika (December 26, 2023). "Extreme weather events in the last year". The Week. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[CNN2023-13] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gilbert, Mary (December 30, 2023). "The year's most extreme weather shows what a warming planet is capable of, and what's to come". CNN. Archived from the original on June 23, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.

[WeatherNation2023-14] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Looking Back at the Top 10 Weather Events of 2023". WeatherNation TV. January 2024. Archived from the original on June 23, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.

[7] "North and Central Georgia Winter Storm: January 28-29, 201". National Weather Service. January 30, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2020.

[8] Henry, Ray (January 29, 2014). "Winter storm causes wrecks, gridlock in the South". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 3, 2014.

[9] Jason Krekeler (October 5, 2015). Storm Summary Number 13 for Southeast U.S. Heavy Rain and Coastal Storm (Report). Weather Prediction Center. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.

[a 1]

[a 2]

[d 1]

[d 2]

[d 3]

[d 4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[y 1]

[y 2]

[y 3]

[y 4]

[y 5]