Winter Storm Poised To Be Costliest Severe Weather Since LA Wildfires

Severe snowfall and sheets of ice and sleet hammered the country this weekend, with damages and economic losses expected to range between $105B and $115B, according to a preliminary estimate from AccuWeather.

The hefty economic losses mean the winter storm is poised to be "by far" the costliest severe weather event since the Los Angeles wildfires devastated the area in early 2025, according to AccuWeather.

The weather service's estimate accounts for damage to infrastructure, businesses and homes, as well as disruptions to commerce and the supply chain. It also accounts for tourism losses, significant travel delays, the cost of extended power outages and impacts on shipping operations at major hubs. 

Winter Storm Fern brought 10 to 20 inches of snow to much of the northern portion of the country and perilous sleet and freezing rain to the South. It is unclear what the storm's exact effects were on commercial real estate across the impacted regions.

It is also unclear how insurance companies will cover property damage, but in multiple instances following the Los Angeles wildfires, insurance companies paid out only about half of the rebuilding costs. Roughly 200 commercial properties burned, and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. estimated the fires impacted more than 6,800 businesses either directly or indirectly.

At least 18 people died as a result of the winter storm across several states, and multiple buildings collapsed due to ice weight. On Sunday, there were 11,608 flight cancellations and an additional 6,084 delays, FlightAware reported. 

As of Monday morning, 800,000 customers were still without power. Tennessee felt the effects most severely, with more than a quarter of a million customers in the dark. While power companies report customer outages, the number of people affected is about twice that, according to AccuWeather.

In Corinth, Mississippi, machinery manufacturer Caterpillar told employees at its remanufacturing site to remain at home Monday and Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. 

AccuWeather's damage projection is still preliminary, as some areas across the country haven't yet reported complete information and the storm's effects are still unraveling, the company told Bisnow in a statement. The snow and ice covering more than half of the contiguous U.S. may be slow to melt, as freezing temperatures are forecast for multiple nights across many of the same states. 

"Thick ice has brought down trees and power lines, while heavy snow has buried some towns," AccuWeather senior meteorologist John Feerick said in a statement. "Restoring power and clearing roads will be slow and difficult in the bitter cold."

In the Washington, D.C., area, the impact was more muted.

The winter storm has hurt the region's hotel demand, but Donohoe Hospitality President Thomas Penny said it doesn't rank among the top storm-related disruptions in his 30-year career in the D.C.-area hotel market. 

While his 17 hotels saw hundreds of cancellations, they were partially offset by stayovers — people in their hotels who were unable to travel home and extended their stays — and by officials staying in hotels to manage the storm response. 

He said utilities had employees stay in hotel rooms as they worked to respond to power disruptions, and government officials in Prince George's County stayed at his firm's hotel in College Park, Maryland, so they could work in the same place throughout the storm. 

The ultimate impact of these counteracting forces was a net 325 room night cancellations across his 3,800-room portfolio over the 10-day span starting Friday, Penny said, leading to a net revenue loss of $55K. 

Penny said this is only about 3% or 4% of the portfolio's total revenue over that span, and compared to historical storms, the impact is "relatively small." But he said it could still get worse in the coming days if more travelers cancel trips.

"It's a moving target because it's not only our area, it's flights coming in from other areas," he said. "It's too early to give a definitive impact."