2004 “a year of freakish weather”: Aon

2004 will stand out as one of the most active years for violent weather events, according to Aon’s “2004 Global Climate and Catastrophe Report”.
The report, produced by Aon Re Global and Aon’s Impact Forecasting subsidiary, chronicles a year of “freakish weather patterns” which culminated in the December 26th Indian Ocean tsunami, “the worst natural disaster in modern times”. The report notes the seaquake-born tsunami, which is blamed for more than 159,000 deaths in 10 countries, makes the worst event of 2003 the Bam, Iran earthquake which killed more than 26,000 pale in comparison.
2004 will also be remembered for one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, including 15 named storms and nine hurricanes, well above the average 10 storms and six hurricanes. In 2003, only two of the seven hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. and Caribbean, compared to six storms making landfall in August and September alone.
The U.S. also suffered an active tornado season last year, in some respects worsened by tropical storm activity, with more than 1,700 tornadoes reported, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. In 2003, the U.S. saw just under 1,400 tornadoes, while a normal season produces about 1,200 events. Fortunately, just 20 U.S. tornadoes were classified as “killer”, causing a total of 36 deaths, compared to 23 killer tornadoes causing 56 deaths in 2003, and below the historical average of 25 hurricanes causing 54 deaths.
And although Japan was hit with heavy typhoon activity, the overall western typhoon season was below average.
Overall, 2004’s climate was warmer and wetter than average, a deviation from previous years of unusually dry conditions, and leading to heavy rains causing flooding in regions including Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.