Twelve U.S. billion-dollar weather disasters in 2011 so far: NOAA
The official tally of billion-dollar U.S. weather disasters in 2011 is now twelve, announced NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco in a speech given yesterday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. This is the greatest number of billion-dollar weather disasters in U.S. history, besting the record of nine set in 2008. Dr. Lubchenco said that at least two additional disasters, the October 29 snowstorm in the Northeast, and the flooding from Tropical Storm Lee in early September, may surpass the $1 billion mark, by the time all damage estimates are tabulated. This would bring the 2011 tally to fourteen billion-dollar weather disasters, a truly astonishing level of destruction for one year. The damages from the twelve official billion-dollars disasters is $52 billion, making the 2011 the 4th most expensive year for billion-dollar weather disasters in history. Damage estimates from natural disasters are fraught with uncertainty, and it is not usual for different insurance companies to give damage estimates a factor of two different for the same disaster. Insurance broker AON Benfield estimates that there have been at least sixteen billion-dollar weather disasters in the U.S. so far in 2011, according to their November Catastrophe Recap report. Included in their tally, but not in NOAA's, are severe weather outbreaks on July 10 - 14 and August 18 -19 in the Plains that caused $1.25 billion and $1.1 billion in damage, respectively, plus $1 billion in damage from Tropical Storm Lee's floods, and $3 billion in damage from the October 28 - 30 snowstorm in the Northeast.
Figure 1. Billion-dollar U.S. weather disasters in 2011 as officially recognized by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in early December, 2011. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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Would that be Typhoon Tip???
Megi was probably my favorite WPac typhoon. Such an amazing, text book cyclone.
I agree. Yasi was a beast.
I'll vote O.phelia, she made a surprising intensification to make category 4 status and become our strongest storm of the season. Put Ophelia in the caribbean and we would've gotten a 5 outta her. Impressive little girl.
I can officially say the is OVER, i was hesitant to put the season away yet, with the canadian, gfs, and nogaps forecasting a strong low to form NE off the virgin Is. but it has became less impressive, and model support has been dropped... Bye 2011!
Going into Hibernation now, will finish my season analysis and 2012 forecasts in the next week and will post the official blog update on it. Just click on my name when you want to check out my progress.
Cyclone Monica.
Atlantic:
1. Wilma
2. Igor
3. Gilbert
EPAc/CPac:
1. Linda
2. Rick
3. Ioke
WPac:
1. Tip
2. Megi
3. Nanmadol
Australia:
1. Monica
2. Yasi
3. Hamish
Indian Ocean:
1. Gonu
2. Edzani
3. Gafilo
Hurricane Linda, the Eastern Pacific's strongest system, near peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 185 mph and a minimum barometric pressure of 902 mbar.
Agree, nanmadol was the best of the year
Pssht, Yasi has Nanmadol beat.
Nanmadol:
Yasi:
Yep. Lovely Linda. She was actually predicted to hit California as a tropical storm, but never happened. Pretty interesting though.
Please remove that comment, we actually got off that topic and don't want to get back on it. Thanks.
Nanmadol was the best in the Northern hemisphere and Yasi was the best in the Southern hemisphere. The best one worldwide was DON.
Don? I thought Jose was the best worldwide!
Nope, that title definitely goes to Jose.
Yep. Doesn't get any better than Don. Amazing how little destruction it caused. (Sarcasm flag: On)
LOL
You would have loved to track Hurricane Katrina...Too bad it had to make landfall.
I'll admit, when I was younger, I was very harsh, and not loving, I used to post and try and force my faith on people. But when i dug down deep I realized it forfeits the whole message of sharing the Gospel which is about love and redemption not "converting". I am not better than anyone here, neither does my belief make me better. I certainly don't love people nearly as much as Jesus did, but I'm just an ordinary human with flaws and a belief in God. However, I give it my best to be who God made me to be, and my goal is to think less about my self and more about using my gifts to help this broken world and giving them the same hope I have been given. I love science especially weather science, so that I think will be the way I will do it. I believe Jesus Christ is the truth but if people here don't follow that that's their choice. This is a weather blog, as Christians its fine to share personally to people but being forceful isn't right, and formally on a blog makes it worse.
Although I will never stop proclaiming that I know it as the truth. But I know this is not the place to have deep spiritual conversations. Unless someone specifically was interested in asking me more, because they wanted to learn more about my personal life with God that's fine. But even then, to go on and on about it in a blog would still be disrespectful. Jesus loved people, and He respected people, keep it that way.
That's my input :)
..Click Image for thumbnails
Link
yeah, maybe. i would have liked it until it reached cat 3 status in the gulf, lol. i like big powerful cape verde hurricanes. last year Danielle, Earl, Igor, Julia delighted me
I guess the years of extremely strong storms are ending...and we are heading back into an era of weaker storms. Which is really good for the Philippines which seemed to be getting destroyed by 180mph typhoons every other year.
Tropical Cyclone Advisory #16
TROPICAL CYCLONE ALENGA (01U)
9:00 AM WST December 9 2011
==============================================
At 8:00 AM WST, Tropical Cyclone Alenga, Category Two (984 hPa) located at 20.7S 102.6E has 10 minute sustained winds of 55 with gusts of 75 knots. The cyclone is reported as moving east southeast at 20 knots.
Storm Force Winds
=================
40 NM from the center
Gale Force Winds
================
80 NM from the center
Dvorak Intensity: T3.5/4.0/W0.5/24 HRS
Forecast and Intensity
======================
12 HRS: 22.0S 105.6E - 45 knots (CAT 1)
24 HRS: 22.7S 107.4E - 35 knots (CAT 1)
48 HRS: 24.0S 109.8E - 30 knots (Tropical Low)
72 HRS: 25.9S 112.3E - 25 knots (Tropical Low)
Additional Information
======================
Tropical Cyclone Alenga was located by microwave and infrared satellite imagery overnight. In the last 6 hours the system has started to appear sheared, with a shear pattern giving a DVORAK DT of 3.5 with CI held at 4.0. 10 minute mean wind is set at 55 knots.
The system was able to keep pace with the west northwestward flow for most of the night and continued as a small intense circulation. Over the past 6 hours shear has started to affect the system and latest microwave and visible imagery suggests that the low level and mid level circulations are begining to be displaced. The west northwesterly shear is currently around 30 knots and continues to increase during the day, and assisted by cooler SST's Alenga should weaken below cyclone strength on Saturday west of the mainland.
Numerical Weather Prediction guidance has become more aligned and has the system moving southeast over the next 24-48 hours due to the upper trough. The low level center may tend more southerly or southwesterly as the system shears and gales could persist to the south of the system in a tight easterly pressure gradient due to a high pressure system further south.
Storm Relative 1km Geostationary Visible Imagery/Loop
..click image for Loop
TV show. Right?
Bill nearly gave me a heart attack, almost hit here in North Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane.
Any long time lurkers, remember in 2009 when this guy came on claiming he talked to the NHC or something and that the hurricane was going to hit here in NC? I was a lot younger then, and lurked, so I actually believed it at the time. XD
I remember it well, Bill was the first hurricane I tracked indept, quite an interesting storm. I remember hearing about Bill's "So called NC Bullseye" by some person, I lurked alot back then, didnt even comment till this year, but I remember him well.
Great Show!! in the words of the cable guy.... "I dont care who you are.. thats funny"
same story here lol. i wanted it to hit. now, i know ALOT better, and tell them to go knock down some fish home lol
Ouch, I was not expecting to hear that from you. But some people do enjoy the destruction of others. I'm ideologically opposed to the US but I have enough morale (I guess) to be content with the amount of destruction Lee caused in the US, but even the damage Irene caused was too much destruction for me.
And no, I'm not opposed to the people, I'm opposed to the government.
TAwx13 never said he wanted it to hit NC.
You are just about the worst
What kind of person wants a hurricane to kill poor, innocent fish?
........
Rhetorical question.
lol. good thing igot me a dictionary at my desk :P
IRAN AIRS FOOTAGE OF THE CAPTURED DRONE
Zeke Miller | Dec. 8, 2011, 11:42 AM
Iranian state television broadcast images this morning of what they purport to be a downed U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone.
The host on the program said the Iranians "hacked into the signal" and landed the drone, which explains why it looks to be in pristine condition.
The television host added that Iran is beginning to reverse engineer the stealth drone.
The Pentagon did not immediately have comment on the footage.
Link
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