Draft:Weather events described as historic by NOAA

This is a chronological list of weather events described as "historic" by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a branch of the United States federal government. The United States is affected by dozens of weather events every year, including an average of 1,200 tornadoes every year, tropical cyclones and hurricanes, winter storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, and many other disasters, due to the various climates in the United States. The National Weather Service (NWS) is in charge of official forecasts for these disasters in the U.S. and then the official analysis their impacts. The most intense, most impactful, or most extreme disasters are sometimes referred to as being "historic" by either the National Weather Service or another branch of NOAA, such as the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL).

List

Pre-1900

Event	Description/Notes

1900s

Event	Description/Notes

1910s

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1920s

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1930s

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1940s

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1950s

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1960s

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1970s

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1980s

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1990s

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2000s

Event	Description/Notes

2010s

Event	Description/Notes
June 2010 Northern Plains tornado outbreak	A prolific and violent tornado outbreak took place over the span of June 16 to June 18, 2010, with the most notable day occurring on June 17, 2010, where several tornadoes touchdown across the Upper Midwestern states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. 74 tornadoes occurred on June 17, 48 of them alone touchdown in Minnesota, setting the record for the most active tornadic day in the state's history. Four EF4 tornadoes; an EF4 tornado that affected areas west of Conger and Albert Lea, Minnesota, destroying many farmsteads and killing one person, a violent, multi-vortex tornado that tore through Deer Creek, Minnesota, flattening homes and killing one person, a large and destructive EF4 tornado that tore through Wadena, Minnesota, injuring 20 and causing $32 million in damage, and a mid-range EF4 tornado west of Thompson, North Dakota that destroyed a home at 185 mph (298 km/h). The National Weather Service at Minneapolis–Saint Paul described the considerable outbreak as historic.
2011 Super Outbreak	From April 25 to April 28, 2011, a massive and destructive tornado outbreak took place over the span of those four days. Becoming the largest tornado outbreak on record in the United States. The most devastating day was on April 27, 2011, where 224 tornadoes touchdown, with 11 being rated EF4 and 4 rated EF5. The day started with a squall line that spawned several strong-intense embedded tornadoes and powerful straight-line wind that led to over a million people without power. In the afternoon to the nocturnal hours of April 27, numerous strong-extremely violent tornadoes touched down, with the first EF5 tornado occurring northeast of Philadelphia, Mississippi, causing extreme ground scouring and vegetation damage and destroying couple of homes and a mobile home, killing three people. A high-end, multi-vortex EF4 tornado tore through the downtown Cullman, Alabama and caused destructive damage to several rural homes near Arab, Alabama, killing six people. A devastating and long-tracked EF5 tornado tore through the towns of Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, and Mount Hope and the northern suburbs of Huntsville, causing catastrophic destruction to several of these locations and becoming the deadliest tornado of the outbreak and the deadliest single tornado on record in Alabama at 71 fatalities. An extremely powerful EF5 tornado tore through Smithville, obliterating several well-built structures and causing extreme vegetation damage before crossing in Alabama, killing 16 in Smithville and 7 in Alabama. Another devastating and high-end EF4 tornado impacted the major cities of Tuscaloosa and the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, killing 44 people in Tuscaloosa and 20 in Birmingham, becoming the costliest tornado on record at the time, causing an estimated $2.4 billion. The final EF5 tornado tore through southern parts of Rainsville and caused destructive damage to several homes and small communities in Dekalb County, killing 25 people. In total, the 2011 Super Outbreak killed 324 people and caused $10.2 billion in damage. Multiple National Weather Service offices along with the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) considered this devastating outbreak to be historic.
Hurricane Irene	Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season. Throughout its path, Irene caused widespread destruction and at least 49 deaths. Damage estimates throughout the United States are estimated near $13.5 billion, making Irene one of the costliest hurricanes on record in the country. In addition, monetary losses in the Caribbean and Canada were $830 million and $130 million respectively for a total of nearly $14.2 billion in damage. On approach to the Northeast and during the tropical cyclone's extratropical transition, Irene dumped a tremendous amount rain across the region, especially in Vermont, where a devastating flooding event occurred after several rivers and streams overflowed. Several old covered bridges were destroyed, multiple road networks were extensively damaged, leaving many communities isolated. The flooding in Vermont resulted in $1.3 billion (2011 USD) in damage and three were killed. The National Weather Service office at Burlington, Vermont considered the destructive flooding in Vermont to be historic.

2020s

Event	Description/Notes
2021 Western Kentucky tornado	During the late evening hours of Friday, December 10, 2021, a devastating high-end EF4 tornado, tracked a significant distance across Western Kentucky, United States, producing severe-to-catastrophic damage in numerous towns, including Mayfield, Princeton, Dawson Springs, and Bremen. The tornado had an almost three-hour lifespan that covered 165.6 miles (266.5 km). It was the deadliest and longest-tracked tornado in an outbreak that produced numerous, strong tornadoes in several states. The tornado killed 58 people and injured 519 others. The National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky (NWS PAH), along with the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) described the tornado as historic.
Hurricane Ian (2022)	Hurricane Ian was a devastating tropical cyclone which was the third costliest weather disaster on record worldwide. Ian caused widespread damage across western Cuba, Florida, and the Carolinas. It was also the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, causing 161 fatalities in total. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Ian caused "historic freshwater flooding across much of central and northern Florida".
2023 Rolling Fork–Silver City tornado	On the evening of Friday, March 24, 2023, a large, violent, and long-tracked multi-vortex EF4 wedge tornado struck the towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City, Mississippi. The tornado killed 17 people and injured at least 165 others. The tornado caused catastrophic damage in Rolling Fork and significant damage in Silver City, with preliminary information indicating that over 78% of the city of Rolling Fork and over 96% of Silver City sustained some level of damage from the tornado, with at least 300 homes sustaining damage in Rolling Fork. The National Weather Service offices of Jackson Mississippi (NWS JAN) and Memphis, Tennessee (NWS MEG) jointly stated it was "a historically deadly tornado".
Tornado outbreak of March 31 – April 1, 2023	A widespread, deadly, and historic tornado outbreak affected large portions of the Midwestern, Southern and Eastern United States on March 31 and April 1, 2023, the result of an extratropical cyclone that also produced blizzard conditions in the Upper Midwest. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a rare high risk for severe weather in two areas of the Mississippi Valley on March 31, the first high risk issuance since March 25, 2021. Approximately 28 million people were placed under tornado watches, including multiple PDS tornado watches, from the evening of March 31 through the overnight hours into the morning of April 1. This included the Little Rock, St. Louis, Chicago, and Memphis metropolitan areas, all of which were hit by multiple rounds of severe squall lines and supercell thunderstorms that produced damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes. In all, 146 tornadoes touched down; 115 occurred on March 31 alone. The outbreak ranks third worldwide for producing the most tornadoes in a 24-hour period, with 136 tornadoes occurring between 19:00 UTC March 31 – 19:00 UTC April 1. That tally is surpassed only by the 1974 Super Outbreak with 148 in that 18-hour outbreak and the 2011 Super Outbreak with 219 in its busiest 24-hour period. The tornado outbreak was describe as being historic by the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
2023 Fort Lauderdale floods	A historic flash flood event occurred in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the surrounding areas on April 12, 2023. The Fort Lauderdale area reported 25.6 inches (650 mm) of rain within approximately 12 hours.21.42 in (544 mm) of rain fell in nearby Dania Beach. Other affected areas, such as Hollywood and South Miami, recorded at least 9 in (230 mm) of rain. The flash flood was described as historic by the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
Hurricane Helene (2024)	Hurricane Helene was a deadly and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities across the Southeastern United States in late September 2024. It was the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Big Bend region of Florida, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Maria in 2017, and the deadliest to strike the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. The storm caused catastrophic rainfall-triggered flooding, particularly in western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia, and spawned numerous tornadoes. Helene also inundated Tampa Bay, breaking storm surge records throughout the area. The hurricane had a high death toll, causing 251 deaths and inflicting an estimated total of $78.7 billion in damage, making it the seventh-costliest Atlantic hurricane on record adjusted for inflation. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) along with the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) and National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), described the flooding caused by Helene, particularly around Asheville, North Carolina as being historic.
2025 Gulf Coast blizzard	The 2025 Gulf Coast blizzard (later becoming Storm Éowyn) was an unusually strong winter storm and blizzard impacting much of the Gulf Coast of the United States between January 20 and January 22, 2025. It brought snowfall to regions of the Gulf Coast that rarely receive wintry precipitation. This was the first recorded blizzard on the Gulf Coast and the most significant winter storm in the region since 1895. During the height of the storm on January 21, a blizzard warning was issued for the coastlines of Louisiana and Texas, farther south than any such warning had previously been issued. Thousands of scheduled airline flights were postponed or cancelled across the Gulf Coast due to the storm. Snow accumulations ranged from 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) across the coast, and the states of Louisiana and Florida recorded their largest single-day snowfall across the state, breaking records that had stood for almost a century. The National Weather Service office in Mobile, Alabama (NWS MOB) described it as "a historic snowstorm [which] transformed the northern Gulf Coast into a winter wonderland".
March 2025 Rio Grande Valley floods	From March 26–28, extreme floods occurred across the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The National Weather Service office in Brownsville, Texas (NWS BRO) described the floods as being historic.
Tornado outbreak and floods of April 2–7, 2025	From April 2–7, 2025, a slow-moving weather system and a stationary front caused both a widespread and devastating tornado outbreak and historic, life-threatening flash flooding across much of the Southern and Midwestern United States. The rainfall and flooding from the storm system was described as historic by the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky (NWS PAH).