Tornadoes, hail, straight-line winds, and severe thunderstorms caused $51 billion in U.S. insured losses in 2025, marking the third straight year losses have exceeded $50 billion, according to a new members-only Issues Brief published by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I).

The report, “Severe Convective Storms: State of the Risk,” found that total economic damages from severe convective storms totaled more than $68 billion last year, ranking 2025 the third costliest year on record for the peril.

Notable weather events in 2025 included more than 300 tornadoes in March alone, which generated $8.4 billion in insured losses, and a rare EF5 tornado struck North Dakota in June, ending a 12-year absence of the most violent tornado classification in the United States.

Despite evolving weather patterns, non-weather factors were the dominant driver of insured losses. “Demographic shifts into high-risk regions, legal system abuse, and escalating labor and construction costs collectively account for up to 90% of loss growth since 2000, according to data cited from Gallagher Re,” the brief noted.

“Severe convective storms are no longer a ‘secondary’ regional or seasonal concern as recent years have proved they are a year-round, record-setting insured loss challenge,” said Sean Kevelighan, CEO, Triple-I. “The data shows addressing rising losses requires more than tracking the weather. We need coordinated action on legal system reform, smarter land use, resilient building standards, and innovative coverage solutions if we are to keep insurance accessible for the communities most at risk.”

Investing in weather pattern studies and risk mitigation can reduce or eliminate losses before they occur, according to Triple-I.

Since hail accounts for a large proportion of total insured residential catastrophic losses due to convective storms, last year’s landmark $11 million National Science Foundation-funded hail study, ICECHIP, should prove beneficial in analyzing hailstone formation and the resilience of various roofing materials.

In addition, evolving risk mitigation strategies shouldn’t be underestimated since every $1 invested in hazard mitigation can save up to $33 in future disaster costs.

The increasing use of IBHS FORTIFIED construction standards, aerial imagery, artificial intelligence, and parametric insurance can trigger rapid payouts when pre-agreed loss thresholds are met, are tools that can help insurers price risk accurately while keeping coverage available and affordable, Triple-I stated.