Southern Severe Weather
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $1.1 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($1.1 billion at the time) and 1 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 88 most significant severe storm episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $1.1 billion
- Losses at the time
- $1.1 billion
- Deaths
- 1
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 129 | 2 | 3 | $185 million |
| Mississippi | 41 | 0 | 4 | $3.3 million |
| Maryland | 9 | 0 | 0 | $2.1 million |
| Louisiana | 136 | 1 | 2 | $1.5 million |
| Texas | 137 | 0 | 2 | $564,000 |
| Tennessee | 18 | 0 | 0 | $437,000 |
| West Virginia | 4 | 0 | 0 | $300,000 |
| South Carolina | 37 | 0 | 0 | $253,000 |
| Hawaii | 9 | 0 | 0 | $100,000 |
| Alabama | 47 | 0 | 0 | $86,000 |
| North Carolina | 39 | 0 | 0 | $85,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 15 | 0 | 0 | $85,000 |
| Indiana | 5 | 0 | 0 | $76,000 |
| Oklahoma | 10 | 0 | 0 | $35,000 |
| Kentucky | 6 | 0 | 0 | $27,000 |
| Puerto Rico | 5 | 0 | 0 | $23,000 |
| Georgia | 16 | 0 | 0 | $12,000 |
| Idaho | 34 | 0 | 0 | $12,000 |
| Minnesota | 4 | 0 | 0 | $10,000 |
| Wisconsin | 7 | 0 | 0 | $8,000 |
| Ohio | 14 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 |
| Missouri | 3 | 0 | 1 | $5,000 |
| New Mexico | 16 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 |
| Virginia | 46 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nebraska | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| Illinois | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Arkansas | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kansas | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Montana | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Colorado | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| South Dakota | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nevada | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Arizona | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Utah | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Flash Flood and Hail in Louisiana, May 9, 2024Surface analysis indicated a stationary front extending across North Texas eastward to near the Arkansas and Louisiana border during the afternoon and evening on May 9th.
- Flash Flood and Hail in Louisiana, May 9, 2024Severe thunderstorms moved across northeast Louisiana and produced damaging wind gusts and hail.
- Hail in Texas, May 9, 2024An isolated severe thunderstorm developed in Southeast Texas along a cold front.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, May 9 to 10, 2024Two storm complexes moved across southeastern Mississippi, southwestern Alabama, and into the Florida Panhandle during the early morning hours of 5/10 producing destructive straight-line winds and multiple tornadoes.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 10, 2024Severe thunderstorms moved across the state of Mississippi and produced damaging wind gusts, hail, and one tornado. Two swaths of wind produced significant damage.
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 10, 2024Two storm complexes moved across southeastern Mississippi, southwestern Alabama, and into the Florida Panhandle during the early morning hours of 5/10 producing destructive straight-line winds and multiple tornadoes.
- Tornado and Hail in Alabama, May 10, 2024May was an incredibly busy month defined by heat, heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms. The main weather event occurred on the 10th when tornadoes and swaths of intense straight-line winds ravaged the Tallahassee area.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 10, 2024Two storm complexes moved across southeastern Mississippi, southwestern Alabama, and into the Florida Panhandle during the early morning hours of 5/10 producing destructive straight-line winds and multiple tornadoes.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Florida, May 10, 2024May was an incredibly busy month defined by heat, heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms. The main weather event occurred on the 10th when tornadoes and swaths of intense straight-line winds ravaged the Tallahassee area.
- Damaging Winds in Florida, May 10, 2024Several rounds of strong to severe storms impacted NE FL and SE GA ahead of a cold frontal passage. The 1st wave arrived during the morning hours, and the second one with the cold front in the afternoon.
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 10, 2024An early morning MCS ahead of a slow moving cold front stretching from the Carolinas to the north central Gulf Coast produces gusty winds that down a few trees across Levy County.
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 10, 2024Several rounds of strong to severe storms impacted NE FL and SE GA ahead of a cold frontal passage. The 1st wave arrived during the morning hours, and the second one with the cold front in the afternoon.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 10, 2024An approaching cold front triggered scattered strong to severe thunderstorms, mainly across the Northern Midlands.
- Hail in South Carolina, May 10, 2024Isolated thunderstorms developed along a cold front across the South Carolina Piedmont during the afternoon. One of the storms became severe and produced large hail in Chester County.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Carolina, May 10, 2024Abundant instability and shear late afternoon after morning clouds cleared out led to scattered storms, some super cellular, across the area (particularly inland) beginning at 3 PM.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 10, 2024Several rounds of thunderstorms developed and moved through the region during the mid afternoon into the evening hours. Some thunderstorms became severe and produced damaging winds and hail up to half dollar size.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 10, 2024A surface cold front draped across southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and northern Alabama and Mississippi led to the development of scattered showers and storms across the southern Piedmont, Sandhills, and Coastal Plain of central North Carolina during the afternoon and…
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 10, 2024Abundant instability and shear late afternoon after morning clouds cleared out led to scattered storms, some super cellular, across the area (particularly inland) beginning at 3 PM.
- Hail in Virginia, May 10, 2024A surface low developed along a cold front and moved southeast through the day on May 10. An isolated severe storm developed north of the low and produced large hail across portions of central Virginia.
- Hail in North Carolina, May 10, 2024Isolated thunderstorms developed along a cold front across the southern North Carolina Piedmont during the afternoon and early evening. One of the storms produced hail in Union County.
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, May 10, 2024Following a cool spring morning, thunderstorms developed across northeastern Minnesota during the afternoon hours as a wave of energy moved into the region out of Canada.
- Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, May 10, 2024Following a cool spring morning, thunderstorms developed across northeastern Minnesota during the afternoon hours as a wave of energy moved into the region out of Canada.
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 10, 2024Isolated to scattered thunderstorms moved across portions of southeast South Carolina in the mid to late evening hours ahead of an approaching cold front. A few of these storms became strong enough to produce damaging wind gusts.
- Flash Flooding and Debris Flow in Hawaii, May 10 to 13, 2024A low pressure system in the upper levels of the atmosphere brought unstable conditions which allowed thunderstorms and heavy rain to develop. As a result of the thunderstorms and heavy rain, flooding and flash flooding was observed over portions of the Islands.
- Damaging Winds in Florida, May 11, 2024A cluster of early morning storms produced wind damage in Orange County.
- Hail in Ohio, May 11, 2024A warm front pushed a swath of light to moderate showers across the Upper Ohio Valley during the morning and midday hours of May 11th.
- Tornado in Ohio, May 11, 2024At the surface, an occluded low drifted eastward from Saginaw Bay to southern Lake Huron during the late morning through early evening of the 11th.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in New Mexico, May 11, 2024An upper low over the Great Basin progressed east towards Colorado during the day Saturday.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Puerto Rico, May 11 to 12, 2024After the previous rainfall events, soils remained saturated across the region, maintaining the risk of flooding at significant levels. A mid to upper-level trough remained close enough to the region to generate shower and thunderstorms activity.
- Tornado and Hail in West Virginia, May 11, 2024A warm front pushed a swath of light to moderate showers across the Upper Ohio Valley during the morning and midday hours of May 11th.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 11, 2024A warm front pushed a swath of light to moderate showers across the Upper Ohio Valley during the morning and midday hours of May 11th.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Texas, May 11 to 12, 2024A pair of shortwave troughs generated two rounds of thunderstorms; one on May 11 and the other on May 12. Most storms occurred on Sunday as the second and stronger disturbance moved overhead.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Maryland, May 11, 2024A supercell thunderstorm riding along a warm front produced a couple of tornadoes as well as straight-line wind damage over western Maryland.
- Hail in Texas, May 12, 2024During the afternoon and evening hours of the 12th, abundant moisture and instability had set in place over the combined OK/TX Panhandles.
- Hail in Texas, May 12, 2024Morning severe thunderstorms moved into the area from the west and produced some hail.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, May 12 to 16, 2024An upper trough parked over the region for near a week. Short waves kept traversing the base of the trough for the duration of the event causing several days of unsettled weather. Some days produced severe squall lines with numerous reports of damage.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Louisiana, May 12 to 16, 2024Multiple upper disturbances moved across the region from the 12th through the 16th causing a rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms which produced numerous reports of damage, flooding, and high winds.
- Hail and Strong Wind in Oklahoma, May 12, 2024During the afternoon and evening hours of the 12th, abundant moisture and instability had set in place over the combined OK/TX Panhandles.
- Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, May 12, 2024A persistent flow of warm, moist, and unstable air ahead of a cold front resulted in scattered strong to severe thunderstorms across south central WI. Tree damage was reported in western Dane County.
- Hail in Kansas, May 12, 2024A line of storms developed over Northwest Kansas, producing up to quarter sized hail. Majority of the area had at least a report of pea to half inch sized hail; however, Thomas, Logan, and Gove counties had hail the size of dime to quarters.
- Tornado in Nebraska, May 12, 2024A broad area of weak thunderstorms developed beneath a potent lobe of upper vorticity during the afternoon and early evening hours of May 12th.
- Hail in Colorado, May 12, 2024Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms developed in the northwest flow behind a departing low pressure system. A few of these storms were strong with small hail due to the cold air aloft, however hail greater than 0.75 inches in diameter was observed in Mesa County.
- Flash Flood in Texas, May 12, 2024Intense thunderstorm clusters tracked north into the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas near an instability gradient along and northeast of a warm front that was slowly shifting northward from the coast.
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, May 12 to 13, 2024Severe thunderstorms moved across the state of Louisiana and produced two swaths of wind that produced significant damage.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 13, 2024Severe thunderstorms moved across the state of Mississippi and produced damaging wind gusts, a few brief tornadoes, and heavy rainfall. Several swaths of wind produced significant damage.
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, May 13, 2024A weak upper trough propagated into portions of the Central Plains from the late evening of the 12th into the early morning hours of the 13th.
- Damaging Wind in Mississippi, May 13, 2024Severe thunderstorms moved across southeast Mississippi and produced damaging winds.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Alabama, May 13, 2024Severe thunderstorms moved across southwest Alabama and produced large hail and damaging winds.
- Flash Flooding in Louisiana, May 13, 2024Intense thunderstorm clusters tracked north into parts of Natchitoches Parish Louisiana near an instability gradient along and northeast of a warm front that was slowly shifting northward from the coast.
- Damaging Wind in Arkansas, May 13, 2024Thunderstorms moved into northwestern Arkansas during the morning of the 13th, as a strong upper level disturbance translated into the Southern Plains. The strongest storm produced damaging wind gusts in Benton County.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 13, 2024A cold front moved into a warm, moist airmass and generated thunderstorms. Some of these storms produced large hail and damaging wind gusts.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 13, 2024Thunderstorms moved across the western Florida panhandle and produced damaging winds.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 13 to 14, 2024A couple of rounds of showers and thunderstorms impacted portions of northwest Florida on May 13 and 14th ahead of a cold front. A few reports of severe weather occurred, mainly in the form of trees and power lines blown down.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Illinois, May 13, 2024Scattered thunderstorms moved across parts of northern Illinois during the afternoon of May 13th which caused isolated wind damage and flooding.
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, May 13, 2024Severe storms spread across South Texas from the Hill Country as a mid-level shortwave replaced a northward lifting warm front over the region.
- Hail in Wisconsin, May 13, 2024Scattered thunderstorms developed along a warm front over southeast WI. One storm produced large hail.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 13, 2024Thunderstorms became severe as they moved into the coastal waters. Small hail occurred before reaching the coast.
- Hail in Florida, May 13, 2024Afternoon thunderstorms developing along the sea breeze produce golf ball sized hail in Polk County.
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 13, 2024A passing short wave trough over a low level boundary near the FL-GA state line combined with diurnal instability triggered strong storms.
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 13, 2024A low pressure system moved through the region on May 13, 2024. Thunderstorms developed in the warm sector ahead of the low pressure during the afternoon and evening, producing damaging winds in Ozark County and heavy rain in Greene County.
- Damaging Wind in Nevada, May 13, 2024Thunderstorms produced gusty outflow winds in northern Nevada.
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, May 13, 2024Widespread severe weather reported on the 13th.
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, May 13, 2024An upper level short wave trough moved through the region, bringing showers and afternoon thunderstorms to the area. A strong thunderstorm brought severe winds into the Magic Valley, causing the most impact from this event.
- Tornado in Arizona, May 13, 2024Residual moisture over northern Arizona was enough for isolated showers and thunderstorms to develop this afternoon over parts of northern Arizona. One storm produced a brief landspout tornado.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 13, 2024Multiple discrete supercells resulted in scattered large hail reports that spread from the Rio Grande Plains and Brush Country into the upper Valley during the late afternoon of May 13th.
- Damaging Winds in Montana, May 13, 2024A cold front moving through the area generated some strong thunderstorms, one of which reached severe levels.
- Damaging Wind in Utah, May 13, 2024A compact shortwave trough grazing the northern portions of the state resulted in a few isolated strong storms given a sufficiently unstable environment.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Louisiana, May 13, 2024A stationary front was setup along the gulf coast on May 13th. High instability and progressive flow aloft ignited a storm complex over southeastern Texas during the mid afternoon hours.
- Flash Flood and Hail in Arkansas, May 13 to 17, 2024Another period of active weather ensued from the May 13th through the 17th. During this time, rounds of showers and thunderstorms moved across the state. Heavy rains brought flash flooding to some locations.
- Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Virginia, May 14 to 15, 2024A surface low developed along a warm front and lifted northeast across southeast Virginia late on May 14 into the early morning hours of May 15.
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 14, 2024A squall line moved across portions of south central Georgia during the early morning hours of May 14th. Scattered reports of wind damage in the form of trees and power lines down occurred.
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Georgia, May 14, 2024A large cluster of thunderstorms developed near an inland advancing warm front in the morning hours along the southeast Georgia coast. These thunderstorms produced a few damaging wind gusts.
- Damaging Winds in Florida, May 14, 2024An MCS originating overnight near a frontal boundary along the north central Gulf Coast moves across the eastern Gulf mid to late morning before producing multiple severe wind gusts and damage to a mobile home park in Pinellas County.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Kentucky, May 14, 2024Surface low pressure was drifting across the Quad State on the 14th. Showers and thunderstorms developed in the afternoon to evening with Western Kentucky seeing storms drift slowly, pivoting eastward to northeastward. CAPE values around 1000 J/kg dropped off after sunset.
- Hail in Mississippi, May 14, 2024A large upper level low from central Missouri aided by a surface low over the Missouri Bootheel pinched off a warm sector ahead of a cold front.
- Tornadoes in South Carolina, May 14, 2024Some low-topped supercells occurred in association with an upper level disturbance in an environment with minimal instability but strong wind shear was present.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Tennessee, May 14, 2024An active pattern across Middle Tennessee continued on May 14, 2024, as yet another line of thunderstorms moved across the area.
- Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 14, 2024A surface low tracked along a warm front over central Georgia and eastern South Carolina during the morning and afternoon hours. As the low moved into central North Carolina, waves of showers and embedded thunder tracked across the region.
- Hail in Nebraska, May 14, 2024An approaching cold front, touched off two areas of thunderstorms across western and north central Nebraska during the late afternoon hours over northwestern Nebraska.
- Tornado in Colorado, May 14, 2024In the afternoon of the 14th, storms began forming over eastern Colorado. One of these storms produced an EFU landspout.
- Tornadoes in North Carolina, May 14, 2024Some low-topped supercells occurred in association with an upper level disturbance in an environment with minimal instability but pretty strong wind shear.
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Indiana, May 14, 2024Surface low pressure was drifting across the Quad State on the 14th. Showers and thunderstorms developed in the afternoon to evening with Southwest Indiana seeing storms drift slowly northeastward. CAPE values around 1000 J/kg dropped off after sunset.
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 14, 2024A line of strong thunderstorms pushed east across southern middle Tennessee and north Alabama during the late afternoon and early evening hours. The storms knocked down a couple of trees and a power line in Moore County.
- Hail in Nebraska, May 14, 2024In the afternoon hours of the 14th, storms began forming in southwestern Nebraska and moving southeast. As the day went on, the storms briefly strengthened and produced hail up to 1.25 inches.
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, May 14, 2024A surface low pressure system moved across central Kentucky during the afternoon and evening hours on May 14th, 2024.
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, May 14, 2024A line of strong thunderstorms pushed east across southern middle Tennessee and north Alabama during the late afternoon and early evening hours. One of the storms knocked down a tree onto a home in south Huntsville in Madison County.
- Hail in Alabama, May 14, 2024A surface low across Tennessee during the afternoon and evening of May 14 fostered a broken line of thunderstorms across northwest Central Alabama. Although largely below severe limits, one cell within the line briefly intensified and produced quarter-size hail near Haleyville.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, May 14, 2024A strong to briefly severe thunderstorm developed and tracked across south central South Dakota. The storm produced hail and wind gusts to near 60 mph across southern portions of Tripp County.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2024Tornadoes in 2024
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.