Storm hazard · NOAA Storm Events Database
Seiche in the United States
National statistics for seiche events from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025): how often they occur, where they hit hardest, and the human and property toll.
- 25
- Events recorded
- 0
- Fatalities
- $110.0K
- Property damage
- 7
- States affected
The verdict
NOAA ranks seiche #51 of 54 by event count, yet its combined-damage rank is higher at #42. The <0.1% event share therefore understates its relative loss position in the 2015-2025 catalog.
- #51 of 54
- NOAA hazard types, by event count
- <0.1%
- share of all NOAA storm events, 2015-2025
- 25
- seiche events, 7 states affected
Ranking reflects NOAA Storm Events Database event counts, not fatalities, injuries, or damage severity; a rare hazard type can still be individually catastrophic.
How dangerous are Seiche events in the U.S.?
The loss ranking is the stronger warning against reading frequency alone. Seiche is #51 of 54 by event count but rises to #42 for combined property and crop damage. Its losses make up <0.1% of the catalog total, while its fatalities rank #53 and represent 0% of recorded deaths. Fewer events can still produce an outsized financial record.
The annual record is uneven rather than steadily rising or falling. The peak year on record was 2015, logging 6 events and $95.0K in property damage in a single calendar year. The most recent year in the dataset is 2025 with 2 events recorded. Across the full 8-year window, annual event counts reflect natural year-to-year noise given how infrequently this hazard is recorded at all.
NOAA records too few seiche events (25 events) to express a stable per-event fatality rate; a single incident would swing it by a wide margin. The cumulative record stands at 0 fatalities and 0 injuries, and recorded damage averages $4.4K per event. Read those as counts, not as a rate.
Where this hazard actually strikes varies sharply by region. The three states absorbing the largest share of events are Michigan (8 events, 0 fatalities), New York (5 events, 0 fatalities), Wisconsin (4 events, 0 fatalities), a pattern driven more by climatology than by any one state's vulnerability. At the other end, states such as Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana report far fewer events, often reflecting hazard climatology rather than underreporting.
The cumulative NOAA record has a smaller reported human toll than most hazard types on this measure: 0 fatalities and 0 injuries among 25 events. PlainHazard's low human-toll band means fewer than five recorded fatalities during 2015-2025. It does not mean that an individual event is harmless, or that unrecorded impacts are zero.
NOAA entries are reports filed by local National Weather Service offices. Counts therefore reflect both observed weather and reporting practice; they do not measure unreported events, household exposure, or the probability of a future event at one address.
Seiche by State
Download all 13 state-year rows as CSV . Source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
This is one of the most geographically concentrated hazards in the NOAA catalog: the five most-affected states absorb 84% of all 25 recorded events.
Seiche by Year
Recorded seiche events averaged 4 per year across 2015-2019 versus 3 per year across 2020-2025: a 25% lower recorded rate in the later window. Reporting intensity varies by forecast office, so window-to-window comparisons describe the record, not a verified physical trend.
| Year | Events | Fatalities | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | $0 |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | $13.0K |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | $2.0K |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| 2015 | 6 | 0 | $95.0K |
What this record shows for Seiche
Seiche ranks #51 of 54 NOAA hazard types by event count; Michigan leads the geography table with 8 events, and 2015 is the peak year at 6 events.
- Michigan carries the largest share of recorded seiche events in this catalog. Michigan profile
- Compare how often this hazard appears against other NOAA event types nationally. All hazards
- Seiche events concentrate unevenly - the five most-affected states already account for a large share of the national seiche record in this extract. Hazard risk by region
NOAA Storm Events counts reflect filed reports, not a forecast or household-level probability. For current threats follow the National Weather Service and local officials; in an emergency call 911.
Further reading for Seiche
Hazard risk by region
Seiche events concentrate unevenly - the five most-affected states already account for a large share of the national seiche record in this extract.
More PlainHazard guides
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not hazard-specific advice).
- Hazard risk by region - how exposure varies across U.S. regions.
- Climate change and disasters - national severity and frequency context.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states record the most seiche events?
How much damage do seiche events cause?
What year had the most seiche events?
How dangerous are seiche events?
Which states have the fewest seiche events?
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (2015-2025) For informational purposes only
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.