November marked by ‘polar vortex’ in U.S.

The “polar vortex” phenomenon hitting the United States last month was among the natural disaster perils to strike during November, according to Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting arm’s latest global catastrophe recap report.

The United States experienced four separate winter weather events during the month, including the first polar vortex of the season and a near record-breaking snow event in the northeast, according to the report.

“The polar vortex phenomenon engulfed much of the country, with all 50 states reporting that at least one of their weather stations had recorded temperatures at or below 32ºF (0ºC),” Impact Forecasting reported.

“A later storm system affected 20 million people and disrupted travel around the Thanksgiving holiday.”

Aggregate economic losses are expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars from the events, though damage assessments are still pending. In total, 29 people were killed during the storm events.

“An active winter season in North America is often a precursor to increased winter storm activity in Europe, as North America can be the point of origin for many winter events,” Adam Podlaha, head of Impact Forecasting, noted in a statement.

European windstorms have led to an average $2.6 billion in annual insured losses during the past ten years, while they caused $3.1 billion in insured losses in 2013, he added.

Elsewhere in November, Australia was hit by a significant hail storm in the Brisbane region, injuring at least 12 people and causing nearly 69,000 claims, according to the Insurance Council of Australia. Preliminary payouts are estimated at $404 million, and that is expected to grow, Impact Forecasting reported.

Severe weather also struck in northern Italy, while in China, At least five people were killed by a magnitude-5.9 earthquake that struck in the Sichuan province, with at least 25,000 properties damaged as a result of the main tremor and subsequent aftershocks.

A magnitude-6.2 earthquake also struck central Japan last month, injuring 46 people and damaging at least 855 properties.