Climate Number: $16.3 Billion
When put in 2000 US dollars, freezing rain (ice storm) events in America caused an estimated 16.3 billion dollars in total losses between 1949 and 2000 due to downed power lines, downed trees, agricultural losses, transportation accidents and medical costs from injuries due to slippery conditions. Freezing rain events are most frequent in the Northeast, but are also common across the Midwest and Piedmont regions from North Carolina northward. When freezing rain events hit the Southeast they tend to be accompanied by high dewpoints. This means that while ice storms are rarer in the Southeast, they tend to be heavy and particularly damaging when they do hit. Records kept since the late 1920′s show that ice storms were the least frequent during the 1930′s and rose to a peak in the early 1950′s, showing little or no trend thereafter.
For Comparison: 16.3 billion dollars is around the same amount collectively pledged by all participating parties to fight global poverty following the 2008 U.N. anti-poverty summit. It is also roughly the same amount as NASA’s annual budget.
Seasons: Winter
Source: Houston, TG et al. “Freezing rain events: a major weather hazard in the conterminous United States.” Natural Hazards 40 (2007): 485-494.
