Top 10 US Weather Events: 2021

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CrazyC83
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Top 10 US Weather Events: 2021

#1 Postby CrazyC83 » Mon Dec 27, 2021 7:21 pm

With 2021 just about done, here are my thoughts on the top 10 weather events in the US this past year. The gap from 4 to 5 was a large one.

1 - December tornadoes: An unprecedent (for the time of year) tornado outbreak on December 10 led to nearly 100 deaths with extreme destruction especially in Kentucky; yet was followed five days later by an even more insane outbreak in the Upper Midwest, which has no record of severe weather at the time of year (December 10-15)

2 - Hurricane Ida: Another one-two punch event, started with a category 4 landfall in Louisiana with major wind and surge damage, followed by catastrophic and deadly rainfall flooding in the Northeast three days later (August 28-September 2)

3 - Northwest heat wave: Incredible heat in the Northwest led to insane temperatures - as high as 120 degrees where normals are in the 70s and 80s - and wildfires thereafter (June 25-July 3)

4 - Central US deep freeze: The middle of February brought extreme cold, snow and ice as far south as the Lower Rio Grande Valley and widespread power outages and damage in Texas especially, as well as other states (most of February)

5 - Western wildfires: While some of the wildfire events were not as extreme as in past years, the Dixie Fire in California was still the largest ever seen in the state (June to September + late December)

6 - Southeast flooding: A localized, yet destructive, flash flood west of Nashville destroyed most of Waverly, TN and killed over 20 people in a small town in one night, just after Tropical Storm Fred does the same in western North Carolina (August 18-21)

7 - March tornadoes: Two tornado outbreaks a week apart paled in comparison to the December disaster but still caused severe damage in parts of the Deep South (March 17-26)

8 - October Nor'easter: An early season Nor'easter (which later become TS Wanda) brought severe coastal flooding and wind impacts to the Northeast coast in late October

9 - Northwest flooding: A major flooding event occurred in mid-November particularly in northern Washington State as a result of an atmospheric river that stalled over the region for several days (November 12-19)

10 - Western fall warmth: While rain came back to the West in the fall, it didn't bring snow - Denver, for example, had its latest first snow on record, while atmospheric rivers kept it warm through the fall as well (September to December)

Globally, I would say the central European floods were the #1 event of the year.
Last edited by CrazyC83 on Sat Jan 01, 2022 12:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Top 10 US Weather Events: 2021

#2 Postby CrazyC83 » Sat Jan 01, 2022 12:14 am

Any thoughts on this list? Changes you would make?
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Re: Top 10 US Weather Events: 2021

#3 Postby cheezyWXguy » Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:35 am

CrazyC83 wrote:Any thoughts on this list? Changes you would make?

What’s your metric for evaluating the events? Is it how anomalous they were, or how severe their impacts were? Maybe I’m biased since I experienced it, but it’s hard for me to find a metric in which the February winter storm doesn’t rank 1 or 2 since it did more damage and killed more people than any of the other events on this list. Probably the only one more anomalous was the December tornado outbreaks imo. I agree with the order on the rest though.
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Re: Top 10 US Weather Events: 2021

#4 Postby Ntxw » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:07 pm

I would put the Northwest heatwave #1. It covered basically the entire western region of the continent (though peaked in the PAC NW.) This was an extreme anomaly, something not seen before at this magnitude and duration was sustained. This on-top of the wildfires that ensued. Probably the most casualties as well exceeding 1k for both US and Canada combined. From a humanitarian standpoint, lack of A/C etc, and historical meteorological event it's unmatched imho in 2021.

While Ida, tornadoes, and Texas freeze were huge events they were not as unprecedented and affected, relatively, smaller area.
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Re: Top 10 US Weather Events: 2021

#5 Postby CrazyC83 » Sun Jan 09, 2022 10:09 pm

cheezyWXguy wrote:
CrazyC83 wrote:Any thoughts on this list? Changes you would make?

What’s your metric for evaluating the events? Is it how anomalous they were, or how severe their impacts were? Maybe I’m biased since I experienced it, but it’s hard for me to find a metric in which the February winter storm doesn’t rank 1 or 2 since it did more damage and killed more people than any of the other events on this list. Probably the only one more anomalous was the December tornado outbreaks imo. I agree with the order on the rest though.


I look at all factors - relative rarity, damage, loss of life and meteorological intensity - to make the list. The top 4 are well above 5 to 10.

If Ida had not done the massive flooding in the Northeast, I would have probably rated it #4, but those combined themselves to go to #2.
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