2025 held its spot in weather history in several different ways. From record fires to floods to the lack of hurricanes, it was a unique year in many aspects.

The year began with devastating fires in California. The Palisades and Eaton fires burned more than 49,000 acres, damaging over 16,000 structures as they burned. Thirty-one people also died in the fires. 

Fires in the southern Appalachians in March were unique in the fact that debris from Hurricane Helene helped fuel them along with dry and windy conditions. Those fires scarred more than 30,000 acres. 

Around the middle part of January, a surge of cold air brought record cold and record snow to parts of the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama along with the Florida Panhandle. Some of those areas noted unusual 6-12” of snow during the cold snap which set several all-time snow records for that area. 

A March winter storm in northern Michigan left up to an inch of ice and dropped 15-20” of snow which marked one of the worst ice storms in that area in 50 years. The ice caused widespread power outages and infrastructure damage. 

While the focus is usually on events that did happen during the year, the 2025 hurricane season was unusual in the fact that no hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. The last time this happened was in 2015. The lack of hurricanes to hit the U.S. happened despite an active North Atlantic season when three Category 5 hurricanes developed. 

Meanwhile, 2025 marked the first year since 2013 that an EF-5 tornado was verified. That tornado happened in Enderlin, North Dakota in June and sadly four were killed. 

Also in the summer months, a deluge of 20” of rain caused catastrophic flooding in early July in Texas Hill Country. The flooding killed at least 135 people. 

Juneau, AK experienced major flooding after a glacial dam outburst in August. 

Now that 2025 has wrapped up, we will see what weather is in store for 2026.