MEMPHIS, Tenn. – In a world increasingly shaped by climate extremes, data has long been our compass.
For over four decades, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintained a vital tool: a comprehensive database tracking the costliest weather disasters in the U.S. since 1980. That era has now quietly ended.
Earlier this year, NOAA announced the discontinuation of its Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, a resource that has served as both a ledger of national trauma and a barometer for our changing climate.
What does this mean for communities like ours, where the scars of recent weather events are still fresh?
Potentially, quite a lot.
Take January 2024, for example. A fierce winter blast swept across much of the central U.S., crippling infrastructure, closing schools, and straining emergency services. Our area was hit hard, so hard, in fact, that it made NOAA’s now-final list of billion-dollar disasters. The 2024 disaster map (seen here) shows just how widespread and severe that winter event was, with multiple states shaded to indicate substantial financial and human cost.
And that’s just one event. By April 2025, another widespread weather outbreak, strong storms and tornadoes that ripped through multiple states, had people once again checking their phones for emergency alerts and huddling in safe rooms.
While NOAA hasn’t made official tallies for 2025, many believe that April’s destruction would easily qualify as another billion-dollar disaster, had the database still been in operation.
Looking back, the interactive disaster maps from previous years (available here) show a troubling pattern. Billion-dollar events are no longer rare. They’re recurring, escalating, and inching closer to home with each passing year.
So why would NOAA stop now?
According to agency statements, the decision reflects a shift in how disaster data is collected and communicated. But critics argue that the loss of this centralized, publicly accessible database removes a crucial accountability tool. Without it, communities may struggle to make the case for climate resiliency funding, insurance reform, or disaster preparedness upgrades. Lawmakers and local leaders may find it harder to prove the financial toll of climate change, especially when the records become harder to find or less frequently updated.
For everyday people, it raises uncomfortable questions: How will we track patterns? How will we know what’s normal versus what’s new? And how can we prepare for a future we can no longer clearly see?
We’ve always known that data isn’t just numbers, it’s narrative. It tells us what’s happening, what’s at stake, and who’s at risk. With NOAA closing this chapter, we may need new storytellers, new sources, and new ways to connect the dots between the weather outside our windows and the shifting climate that fuels it.
Because whether or not it’s officially counted, the next billion-dollar disaster may already be forming in the clouds.
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