The now-retired database documented 27 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the United States last year alone.
DENVER — The federal government will no longer update a high-profile database that tracks the financial toll of major natural disasters in the United States, a move some scientists say could have lasting consequences.
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) confirmed earlier this month it is discontinuing updates to its Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product. The decision comes as the agency aligns with what it calls “evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes.”
“All past reports, spanning 1980 to 2024, and their underlying data remain authoritative, archived, and available,” NOAA said in a statement.
The now-retired dataset documented 27 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the United States last year alone including one drought event, one flooding event, 17 severe storm events, five tropical cyclone events, one wildfire event and two winter storm events.
Former Colorado Assistant State Climatologist Becky Bolinger said the decision to stop updating the database is troubling. She has used the dataset for years to study patterns in extreme weather and track how costs are rising.
“Back in January, I went and downloaded the entire data set,” Bolinger said. “I was worried that it might be something that disappeared.”
Bolinger believes the move is part of a broader effort to reduce public-facing climate data.
“This decision essentially comes down to anything that really has the word ‘climate’ in it is kind of being targeted,” she said. “Pretty much anything that says climate, it’s getting put under the microscope.”
Colorado consistently ranks among the states with the most frequent and costly disasters, ranging from hail to wildfires to extreme winter storms. Bolinger said losing regular updates from NOAA will make it harder to prepare for what’s coming.
“It’s really going to make it harder to know what events we need to prepare for, what areas are at risk for certain events,” she said.
While insurance companies collect similar damage estimates, their data is often proprietary and not shared with the public.
The NOAA database will remain accessible online, but no new entries will be added.
