13 August 2014

Normalized US Hurricane Losses 1900-2013

Here is the updated normalized US hurricane loss figure through 2013, the red line shows the linear trend (ever so slightly negative, but not significantly so). The source is:
Pielke, Jr., R.A., J. Gratz, C.W. Landsea, D. Collins, M. Saunders, and R. Musulin (2008), Normalized Hurricane Damages in the United States: 1900-2005. Natural Hazards Review 9:29-42. And is updated to 2014 values by ICAT.
How do we know if the normalization is any good? We compare it to trends in hurricane frequency and intensity, and when we do so we find no evidence for a residual bias in our methods. Specifically, US hurricanes have not become more frequent or intense, so there is simply no basis to expect an increase in normalized losses. Of course, this analysis has been replicated several times as well, using different methods and loss data.

Here is that data on trends in US hurricane landfall frequency and intensity: