Science · Facts & sources
5 sourced facts about weather, each with the context behind the number. 4 more are in today's round and appear here after it closes.
Answer14 named storms
Based on 1991–2020, an average season also brings 7 hurricanes, 3 of them major (Category 3 or stronger).
Source: NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Climatology (2020) nhc.noaa.gov
Answer645 (preliminary)
Floods were the deadliest hazard in 2025 with 230 deaths. The 10-year average is 658 weather deaths a year.
Source: National Weather Service, U.S. Natural Hazard Statistics (2025) weather.gov
Answer13
Lightning deaths have plunged: the U.S. recorded 432 in 1943, and the 30-year average is now 31 a year.
Source: National Weather Service, U.S. Natural Hazard Statistics (2024) weather.gov
Answer230
That was nearly double the 10-year average of 118 flood deaths per year.
Source: National Weather Service, U.S. Natural Hazard Statistics (2025) weather.gov
Answer1 in 15,300
The odds in any single year are about 1 in 1.2 million, but they add up over a lifetime.
Source: National Weather Service, How Dangerous is Lightning? (2019) weather.gov