Winter Storm disasters in the United States

How common are Winter Storm disasters in the U.S.?

FEMA has issued 36 federal disaster declarations classified as winter storm between 2023 and 2026, affecting 26 states and territories. Each declaration represents a formal federal recognition that an event exceeded state and local response capacity, unlocking Public Assistance, Individual Assistance, or Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding depending on the declaration class (DR, EM, or FM). Raw declaration counts therefore measure the federal response footprint, which is a lagging and thresholded indicator: smaller events handled entirely at the state level never appear, and declaration thresholds have been recalibrated over the dataset's multi-decade history.

Where these declarations land varies widely by state. The three states with the most winter storm declarations on record are TN (3 declarations), SD (3 declarations), KY (2 declarations), largely explained by regional exposure rather than population size alone. States with the fewest declarations, including ND (1), CA (1), TX (1), a sign that most local events here never crossed the federal declaration threshold.

Annual declaration counts move in fits and starts rather than a smooth trend. The peak year on record was 2026, with 23 winter storm declarations issued that single year, a clustering driven by major multi-state events and the federal government's declaration cadence. The most recent year on record is 2026, with 23 declarations. Trends over the 3+ year history reflect a mix of policy recalibration and genuine year-to-year hazard variability.