2015 natural disasters

The 2015 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis affecting several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia (especially its islands of Sumatra and Borneo), Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.

A severe heat wave with temperatures as high as 49 °C (120 °F) struck southern Pakistan in June 2015. It caused the deaths of about 2,000 people from dehydration and heat stroke, mostly in Sindh province and its capital city, Karachi. The heat wave also claimed the lives of zoo animals and countless agricultural livestock. The event followed a separate heat wave in neighboring India that killed 2,500 people in May 2015.

In May 2015, India was struck by a severe heat wave. As of 3 June 2015, it caused the deaths of at least 2,500 people in multiple regions. The heat wave occurred during the Indian dry season, which typically lasts from March to July with peak temperatures in April and May. Although it typically remains hot until late October, Indian monsoons often provide some respite from the heat.

The 2014–2015 eruption of Fogo began on 23 November 2014, continuing until 8 February 2015. It was the first eruption of Pico do Fogo in 19 years, and the longest since its 1857 eruption. It had a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3, making it the largest eruption of the volcano since records began.

The October 2015 North American storm complex was an extratropical storm that triggered a high precipitation event, which caused historic flash flooding across North and South Carolina. The incipient cold front traversed the Eastern United States on September 29–30, producing heavy rain in multiple states. The system subsequently stalled just offshore. Tapping into moisture from the nearby Hurricane Joaquin, a developing surface low brought heavy, continuous rain to southeastern States, with the worst effects concentrated in South Carolina where catastrophic flooding occurred. The event culminated in South Carolina on October 4 when numerous rivers burst their banks, washing away roads, bridges, vehicles, and homes. Hundreds of people required rescue and the state's emergency management department urged everyone in the state not to travel. Some areas of the state saw rainfall equivalent to a 1-in-1000-year event.

The 2014–2016 El Niño was the strongest El Niño event on record, with unusually warm waters developing between the coast of South America and the International Date Line. These unusually warm waters influenced the world's weather in a number of ways, which in turn significantly affected various parts of the world. These included drought conditions in Venezuela, Australia and a number of Pacific islands while significant flooding was also recorded. During the event, more tropical cyclones than normal occurred within the Pacific Ocean, while fewer than normal occurred in the Atlantic Ocean.

In the afternoon of 25 April 2015, a MW 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal and surrounding countries. Tremors from the quake triggered an avalanche from Pumori into Base Camp on Mount Everest. At least twenty-two people were killed, surpassing the toll of an avalanche that occurred in 2014 as the deadliest disaster on the mountain.

The unseasonable rain and hailstorm across all North India and its connected states caused heavy damage to the crops of the Rabi Harvest in March 2015. Usually this period of the year does not get rain but that year heavy rainfall destroyed most of the winter harvest that was near to being cut. It directly affected normal life, especially of farmers who lost their harvest for this season. Due to crop damage on a large scale, the prices of basic food items increased. Approximately 106 lakh hectares harvest was damaged and about 80 farmers attempted suicide in March alone. It was also recorded as the wettest March in 48 years.

Cyclone Niklas, also known as the Lentestorm (spring storm) in the Netherlands, was a European windstorm that affected areas of western and central Europe with widespread disruption to air, shipping and road transport at the end of March 2015.

The February 2015 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event that affected most of Canada and the eastern half of the United States. Following an earlier cold wave in the winter, the period of below-average temperatures contributed to an already unusually cold winter for the Eastern U.S. Several places broke their records for their coldest February on record, while some areas came very close. The cause of the cold wave was due to the polar vortex advancing southward into the eastern parts of the U.S, and even making it as far south as the Southeast, where large snow falls are rare. By the beginning of March, although the pattern did continue for the first week, it abated and retreated near the official end of the winter.