Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re said preliminary insurance loss estimates indicate that losses from the severe convective storm (SCS) outbreak in the United States from March 10 to 12 will be in the low to mid-single digits in the billions of dollars, with total economic losses expected to increase by 20-25%.
The South China Sea outbreak hit more than a dozen states in the central and eastern United States from March 10 to 12, bringing violent and destructive tornadoes, potentially record hail, and straight-line winds.
“This week’s outbreak brought widespread impacts to several states in the central and eastern United States,” said Steve Bowen, chief scientific officer at Gallagher RE. “While deadly tornadoes generated most of the media coverage, we once again witnessed sizable (record-breaking) hail in many communities, causing widespread damage. Parts of major metropolitan areas such as Chicago (Illinois), Kansas City (Mo.) and Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City) were affected by hailstones the size of baseballs and even larger.”
According to Gallagher Re, the outbreak is likely to be the most impactful and costly U.S. SCS event so far in 2026, as SCS-related loss costs and total insured losses from events in January and February fell below $1 billion.
March is considered the beginning of the SCS season in the United States. “The peak months for overall SCS activity and observed losses are March, April, May and June. These four months have accounted for at least 72% ($390 billion) of U.S. SCS insured losses since 2010. On an annual basis, the U.S. has now seen three consecutive years of SCS-related insured losses at a minimum of $50 billion,” explained Gallagher Re.
In fact, Gallagher Re found that on an annual basis, losses from SCS totaled $542 billion, far surpassing tropical cyclone disasters ($367 billion) as the highest losses incurred by insurers since 2010.
Reinsurance brokerage Aon, which recently discussed the rise in SCS losses globally, also warned that the U.S. outbreak in March could result in insured losses reaching billions of dollars.
“Total economic and insured losses over the past week could reach billions of dollars,” Aon said in its weekly Cat Report on March 13 regarding the SCS outbreak.
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