These weather events have shaped US history over the last 250 years
Weather has historically been interwoven into America's narrative.
Extreme weather events have been shaping U.S. history since the country's inception.
On the night of Christmas Day 1776, then-Gen. George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, crossed the Delaware River during freezing conditions, allowing his troops to launch a surprise attack on Hessian forces during the Battle of Trenton the next morning.
More than 2,000 solders crossed the Delaware, which was filled with ice. The "Little Ice Age," a period of climatic cooling brought about by natural forces, including explosive volcanic eruptions, was occurring at this time and entering one of its coldest stretches in the late 18th century, Dagomar Degroot, a professor of environmental history at Georgetown University, told ABC News. A blizzard with bitterly cold conditions was more likely then than it is now, Degroot said.
"The crossing surprised the Hessian forces in Trenton and resulted in a stunning victory, credited with saving the revolution in its darkest hour," Jim Fleming, a historian of science and technology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, told ABC News.
The crossing is widely considered one of the best tactical decisions during the American Revolution.
Ever since America gained independence from Great Britain, weather has been interwoven into its narrative, with many defining moments in our country’s 250 years shaped by the weather and climate as it was by people.
In the last year alone, the U.S. and its neighbors have faced more historic flooding, wildfires, snowstorms and hurricanes -- with more extreme weather events likely in the near future due to the impacts of climate change.
While America's 250-year climate history now trends to fewer fatalities and declining vulnerability due to better forecasting, it is now seeing greater economic damage amid extreme weather, as a result of a rapid buildup of population and infrastructure in vulnerable regions and more extreme events due to climate change, Degroot said.
"Our weather does not exist in a vacuum," Sara Grossman, an associate professor of environmental studies at Bryn Mawr College, told ABC News. It is deeply connected to the activities we undertake as a species, from farming practices in the 1930s, to the overconsumption of fossil fuels, and the building residential homes on former marshy coastlines.
Here are some of the most notable weather events that have happened during America's 250 years:
The Great Blizzard of 1888
The Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the Great White Hurricane, is one of the most severe recorded blizzards in U.S. history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine and even some parts of Canada from March 12 to March 14. As much as 58 inches of snow fell in some regions, and strong winds up to 80 mph were responsible for large snow drifts -- many over 50 feet tall.
Then, when the snow melted, it caused severe flooding in parts of the Northeast.
More than 400 people died as a result of the storm, which also shut down roads and railways and destroyed boats.
The blizzard inspired the use of underground subway lines and utility lines as well as better winter storm preparedness, city planning and new weather models and translation tools.
1900 Galveston Hurricane
On Sept. 8, 1900, a hurricane that rolled through Galveston, Texas, became the nation's deadliest natural disaster, according to the Galveston & Texas History Center. It is unclear exactly how many people died in the storm, but some estimates place the death toll on Galveston Island alone at 8,000 -- with several more thousand deaths recorded on the mainland.
The hurricane destroyed more than 2,600 homes, with the storm surge crashing farther inland than ever before during a time of horse-drawn carriages, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
Records indicate that the entire city eventually was underwater, with depths of up to 15 feet in some areas.
Gusts of up to 100 mph were also recorded, according to the historical association.
The devastation caused by the storm prompted the creation of the "Galveston Plan, "a city commission model designed to execute public works in an efficient manner."
However, after losses of about $30 million, or $1.5 billion adjusted for inflation, the city never regained its pre-storm economic status, Fleming said.
1930s Dust Bowl
In 1931, the first of four major drought episodes that would occur over the course of the next decade began in the Great Plains -- known as the Dust Bowl, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Drought covered virtually the entire Plains, destroying crops with deficient rainfall, high temperatures, high winds, insect infestations and dust storms.
It was a "direct response" to agrarian practices that sought to break the land, Grossman said,
Market-driven farming across the Great Plains had disturbed the sod -- the upper layer of earth, anchored by roots -- that once protected the region from dust storms, Degroot said
What resulted was an agricultural depression that exacerbated the financial crisis of the Great Depression, according to the Center. Economic and social impacts included widespread migration from drought-affected areas to the West Coast in search of jobs.
The Dust Bowl was likely the most devastating climatic event in America’s history, Degroot said.
1948 Tinker Air Force Base Tornado
The first-ever tornado warning occurred at the Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City in 1948.
In March 1948, central Oklahoma was inundated with destructive tornadoes -- two of which struck the Tinker Air Force Base.
The first, which occurred on March 20, 1948, first touched down at Will Rogers Field in Oklahoma City before moving eastward to the Air Force Base, destroying 54 aircraft and causing extensive damage to buildings, about 100 vehicles and other aircraft, according to NOAA.
On March 25, 1948, two U.S. Air Force meteorologists at Tinker Air Force Base issued the first tornado forecast after spotting a repeating pattern -- using new methods devised after the tornado event five days earlier.
The tornado struck about 100 yards from the previous -- hitting a total of 84 planes, 35 of which were destroyed.
Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Hurricane Katrina is likely one of the most memorable climatic disasters in recent history, Degroot said.
On Aug. 29, 2005, Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana as a Category 3 storm, causing the levees and floodwalls in New Orleans to fail.
The flooding filled 80% of New Orleans and killed 1,833 people. It caused more than $100 billion in damage -- the costliest hurricane to ever hit the U.S., according to NOAA.
Roughly 484,000 residents were displaced -- about 40% of whom never returned to the region, according to The Data Center, a research nonprofit for Southeast Louisiana.
"Its effects were likely worsened by global warming, which can provide more energy to hurricanes by heating up sea surface temperatures," Degroot said.
Superstorm Sandy (2012)
Hurricane Sandy had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone by the time it made landfall in the tri-state area on Oct. 29, 2012, but it still caused extensive damage in the most populated region in the U.S.
In New Jersey alone, more than 346,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, and 38 people were killed, according to the state's Department of Environmental Protection. The storm surge that flooded lower Manhattan inundated streets, subway tunnels and water and sewage lines.
The surge also did considerable damage to the buildings within the surge zone, 85% of which were residential buildings, according to New York University's Furman Center, an empirical research institution.
The impacts also included a massive fire that broke out in Breezy Point, Queens, which destroyed 120 homes.
Sandy is an "inflection point" that showcases the impact humans have on earth systems -- especially in an anthropogenically warming world, Grossman said.
Damages are estimated to be at about $50 billion. Rebuilding in the aftermath included elevated beach homes, walls of sand dunes and new urban parks within New York and New Jersey.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton (2024)
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season produced two back-to-back hurricanes that caused considerably damage in the Southeast.
On Sept. 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall on Florida's Big Bend region before tracking north, leaving a wake of destruction over 400 miles in the days the followed.
The Category 4 storm brought 140 mph winds and a 15-foot storm surge to parts of the Gulf Coast before combining with a separate system, dumping over 30 inches of rain in parts of North Carolina over the span of a few days. More than 100 people died in the flooding that occurred in the Appalachian region of North Carolina alone.
Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton brought strong winds and life-threatening storm surge to the west coast of Florida. The storm also produced strong tornadoes in regions that were not directly hit by the hurricane itself. At least 38 tornadoes were reported across Florida -- beginning before Milton even made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.
Numerous homes in South Florida suffered significant damage. A tornado that tore through a subdivision in West Palm Beach flipped cars and downed trees and garages.
Tornado outbreak of April 2025
Modern-day tornado outbreaks showcase new and improved ways to obtain weather data and use it to alert the public quicker than ever before.
From April 2 to April 7, 2025, a slow-moving weather system and stationary front caused a widespread tornado outbreak as well as historic, life-threatening flash flooding across much of the South and Midwest.
The tornado outbreak was communicated with exceptional accuracy through a rare "High Risk" (Level 5) outlook issued days in advance by the National Weather Service.
More than 100 tornadoes were reported, including two high-end EF-3 events that occurred in Missouri and Arkansas. More than a dozen people were killed as a result of the outbreak.
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