2022’s US climate disasters, from storms and floods to heat waves and droughts
Enlarge / Rain and fast snowmelt sent the Yellowstone River and nearby streams raging beyond their banks in June 2022. (credit: William Campbell / Getty Images)
The year 2022 will be remembered across the US for its devastating flooding and storms-and also for its extreme heat waves and droughts.
By October, the US had already seen 15 disasters causing more than $1 billion in damage each, well above the average. The year started and ended with widespread severe winter storms from Texas to Maine, affecting tens of millions of people and causing significant damage. Then, March set the record for the most reported tornadoes in the month-233.
During a period of five weeks over the summer, five 1,000-year rainfall events occurred in St. Louis, eastern Kentucky, southern Illinois, California's Death Valley, and Dallas, causing devastating and sometimes deadly flash floods. Severe flooding in Mississippi knocked out Jackson's troubled water supply for weeks. A historic flood in Montana, brought on by heavy rain and melting snow, forced large areas of Yellowstone National Park to be evacuated.