I remember when I moved here the weekend of July 4th, 2020... It was sunny all summer--probably 95% of the time, anyway. Hardly any rain--just warm, sunny and hot days that were perfect for the pool. This has been my first Spring in West Texas, and from what I've been told by the people in the building here at the stations who are either from here or who have lived here for decades--this has been a little rougher than normal.

In doing some research, it turns out that it's mostly due to a weather pattern called La Nina--where the water in the ocean in the central Pacific is cooler than usual and that has an effect on climate and storms. This is the first time I've ever heard that nickname associated with weather. We all have heard El Nino, which apparently is the exact opposite of La Nina where the water is warmer than usual instead of cooler and that causes weird weather patterns too.

I'm just hoping after the research and seeing that May and the start of June is usually the peak time for all of these thunderstorms, hail and flash flooding--that it starts to calm down here in the next two weeks and we can have a summer like we did last year once again. My step daughter comes to visit from Illinois around June 12th for 3 weeks and I really want her to be able to experience the same fun this year that I got to last year with pool time and nice sunny days.

I completely understand every area has different levels of severe weather--like living in Florida back in 2002 where we'd get heavy rain and winds in Tallahassee for about 15 minutes almost every morning, then it would be humid and swamp-like for the rest of the day. It just takes getting used to. I'm ready to get used to the heat and sunshine :-)

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

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