Even With Few May Tornadoes, U.S. Storms Still Packed a Punch: Impact Forecasting

June 11, 2018

Fewer than 450 tornadoes were reported in the U.S. this year as of June 1 — an historic low going back to 1950 — but a handful of severe weather outbreaks still caused problems in May, according to Aon’s Impact Forecasting.

Four separate severe weather outbreaks hit the United States in May, causing significant hail and wind damage, according to Impact Forecasting’s May Global Catastrophe Recap report.

The hardest-hit areas: From the Rockies to the Mid-Atlantic. Among the worst weather events to hit in the month was catastrophic flooding in Ellicott City, Md., which Impact Forecasting noted was the second time this has happened since 2016.

Impact Forecasting calculated that just two of the four weather events caused at least $2.3 billion in estimated economic losses and that public/private insurers would cover more than 75 percent of the total.

There’s no final tally yet, but Impact Forecasting said it will be “even higher.”

Additional North American thunderstorm damage occurred in areas of Canada’s Ontario and Quebec, with one event costing insurers nearly $325 million, according to catastrophe analyst CatIQ. Most of the hail and wind damage occurred in Ontario, making it the costliest thunderstorm in the province since 2013.

There was a busy storm season both for the U.S. and globally in May. Some highlights:

Source: Aon/Impact Forecasting