Blizzards, cold temperatures, icy roads and major winter storms often result in heavy property damage.
Businesses, homeowners and vehicle owners can suffer expensive losses when snow and cold weather hit.
According to data from Munich Re, winter storms caused an estimated $3.5 billion in insured losses in 2015, up from $2.6 billion in 2014.
From 1995 to 2014 winter storms resulted in about $27 billion in insured catastrophe losses (in 2014 dollars), or more than $1 billion a year on average, according to the Insurance Information Institute and data from Property Claim Services.
Winter property totals include agricultural, offshore, marine, aviation and National Flood Insurance Program losses.
Here are the 15 costliest winter events by insured losses in the U.S. from 1980-2015, as ranked by the Insurance Information Institute:
Blizzard conditions in Lubbock, Texas, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. The storm system packing snow and high winds tracked eastward across western Texas toward Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. National Weather Service officials in Kansas and Oklahoma issued blizzard warnings and watches. (AP Photo/Betsy Blaney)
|15. Blizzard, winter damage
Dates: Feb. 24-25, 2013.
States impacted: Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
Overall losses (when occurred): $1,000 million.
Insured losses (when occurred): $690 million.
Deaths: 1.
A Delta MD-80 aircraft is de-iced before cleared for flight at Laguardia Airport in New York, Saturday February 3, 1996. Snow and ice delayed flights out of Laguardia until midday. (AP Photo/Steven E. Frischling)
|14. Winter damage
Dates: Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 1996.
States impacted: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Overall losses: $1,500 million.
Insured losses: $740 million.
Deaths: 16.
A severe winter storm approaching the Sierra Nevada and the Lake Tahoe Basin causes delays at the base of U.S. 50 in Meyers, Calif., on Friday, January, 4, 2008. A fierce arctic storm pounded California, threatening to soak mudslide-prone canyons already charred by wildfires and to paralyze the mountains with deep snow. (AP Photo/Chad Lundquist)
|13. Winter storm
Dates: Jan. 4-9, 2008.
States impacted: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
Overall losses: $1,000 million.
Insured losses: $750 million.
Deaths: 12.
Vehicles attempt to travel on a snow covered I-70 highway near Columbia, Mo. during a snow and ice storm, Friday, Jan. 1, 1999. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)
|12. Winter storm
Dates: Jan. 1-4, 1999.
States impacted: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Overall losses: $1,000 million.
Insured losses: $780 million.
Deaths: 25.
(Photo: iStock)
|11. Winter damage
Dates: Feb. 10-12, 1994.
States impacted: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Overall losses: $3,000 million.
Insured losses: $800 million.
Deaths: 9.
(Photo: iStock)
|10. Winter damage, cold wave
Dates: Jan. 17-20, 1994.
States impacted: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont and West Virginia.
Overall losses: $1,000 million.
Insured losses: $800 million.
Deaths: 70.
(Photo: iStock)
|9. Winter damage, cold wave
Dates: Dec. 17-30, 1983.
States impacted: Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Overall losses: $1,000 million.
Insured losses: $880 million.
Deaths: 500.
A a group of people stop along Interstate 91 to help push a car out of a snow bank during a winter storm in Windsor, Conn., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
|8. Winter storm, snowstorms, winter damage
Dates: Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 2011.
States impacted: Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Wisconsin.
Overall losses: $1,300 million.
Insured losses: $980 million.
Deaths: 36.
Plastic garbage bags and other refuse float along 14th Street at the height of a giant winter storm which sent the waters of the East River surging into the streets, Dec. 11, 1992. A combination of high winds and a high tide created the havoc which nearly paralyzed portions of New York City. (AP Photo/Jac Barba)
|7. Winter storm
Dates: Dec. 10-13, 1992.
States impacted: Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.
Overall losses: $3,000 million.
Insured losses: $1,000 million.
Deaths: 19.
A large uprooted tree lies across the yard of a house across the street from McKennan Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Thursday, April 11, 2013. An ice storm followed by more than 6 inches of heavy, wet snow downed trees and power lines across the city. (AP Photo/Dirk Lammers)
|6. Winter storm
Dates: April 7-11, 2013.
States impacted: California, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Overall losses: $1,500 million.
Insured losses: $1,200 million.
Deaths: N/A.
Flooding on Main Street in Bound Brook, N.J., Sunday, March 14, 2010. Several inches of rain fell in the area causing the Raritan River to overflow. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)
|5. Winter storm, floods
Dates: March 13-15, 2010.
States impacted: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Overall losses: $1,700 million.
Insured losses: $1,200 million.
Deaths: 11.
Local police attend to a car that has spun off the road on RTE 9, Sunday April 15, 2007, in Henniker, N.H. A powerful nor'easter pounded the East with wind and pouring rain. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)
|4. Winter storm, tornadoes, floods
Dates: April 13-17, 2007.
States impacted: Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Jew Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Vermont and West Virginia.
Overall losses: $2,000 million.
Insured losses: $1,600 million.
Deaths: 19.
This Jan. 8, 2014, file photo shows homes covered in snow and ice in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
|3. Winter damage, cold wave
Dates: Jan. 5-8, 2014.
States impacted: Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Overall losses: $2,500 million.
Insured losses: $1,700 million.
Deaths: N/A.
A New York City taxi driver tries to free his cab from snow piled up by street plows early Sunday morning March 15, 1993, in lower Manhattan, after a winter storm hit the metropolitan area Saturday. About 10 inches of snow plus rain and sleet combined with high winds and low temperatures with the occasional thunder and lightning complicated coping with the major storm. (AP Photo/Mike Albans)
|2. Blizzard
Dates: March 11-14, 1993.
States impacted: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont and West Virginia.
Overall losses: $5,000 million.
Insured losses: $2,000 million.
Deaths: 270.
In this Feb. 16, 2015 file photo, icicles hang from buildings on Beacon Street in Boston as New England remained bitterly cold after the region's fourth winter storm in a month blew through. For many cities in the Northeast, it was the coldest February on record, and some places recorded the most days of zero or below temperatures. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
|1. Winter storm, winter damage
Dates: Feb. 16-25, 2015.
States impacted: Connecticut, Washington D.C., Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont.
Overall losses: $2,800 million.
Insured losses: $2,100 million.
Deaths: 39.
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Jayleen R. Heft
Jayleen Heft is the digital content editor for PropertyCasualty360.com. Contact her at [email protected].
