This statistic shows a list of heat waves and cold waves experienced in the United States from 1900 to 2016, by the number of fatalities that occurred as a result. In the deadliest event on record, around 1,260 people lost their lives as a result of a heat wave in 1980 in Missouri and Tennessee.
Heat waves and cold waves that caused the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 to 2016*
Type, Year, Location
Number of fatalities
Heat wave, 1980, Kansas City, Missouri, St Loius
1,260
Heat wave, 1936, Illinois
1,193
Heat wave, 1995, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois
670
Heat wave, 1999, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin
257
Heat wave, 1983
188
Heat wave, 1966, St Louis, Missouri
182
Heat wave, 2006, California
164
Cold wave, 1963
150
Heat wave, 1998, Arizona, Florida, Colorado
130
Heat wave, 2012, Washington DC, Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina
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Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). (November 17, 2016). Heat waves and cold waves that caused the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 to 2016* [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved December 30, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/237503/deadliest-heat-waves-and-cold-waves-in-the-us/
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). "Heat waves and cold waves that caused the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 to 2016*." Chart. November 17, 2016. Statista. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/237503/deadliest-heat-waves-and-cold-waves-in-the-us/
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). (2016). Heat waves and cold waves that caused the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 to 2016*. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: December 30, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/237503/deadliest-heat-waves-and-cold-waves-in-the-us/
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). "Heat Waves and Cold Waves That Caused The Most Fatalities in The United States from 1900 to 2016*." Statista, Statista Inc., 17 Nov 2016, https://www.statista.com/statistics/237503/deadliest-heat-waves-and-cold-waves-in-the-us/
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Heat waves and cold waves that caused the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 to 2016* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/237503/deadliest-heat-waves-and-cold-waves-in-the-us/ (last visited December 30, 2024)
Heat waves and cold waves that caused the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 to 2016* [Graph], Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), November 17, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/237503/deadliest-heat-waves-and-cold-waves-in-the-us/
