The first three months of 2017 claimed the most billion-dollar weather disasters for the same stretch of any year on record, according to a report released Thursday by NOAA.

Five separate disasters, ranging from tornado outbreaks and wind damage to late season freezes that wiped out crops in the South, racked up damage tolls over $1 billion.

This frequency of billion-dollar events is the largest since records began in 1980 and more than doubles the average number of 2.4 such disasters over the last five years.

Here are the five costliest events in January-March:

1. Late January Southern Tornado Outbreak : $1.1 Billion, 24 Deaths

From Jan. 20-22, 79 tornadoes ripped through eight southern states.

This outbreak was the third largest outbreak during the winter months on record.

One of the tornadoes shredded the ground for more than 70 miles. The hour-plus-long twister tracked through Albany, Georgia, and close to several other south Georgia communities with winds as high as 150 mph.

Four people were killed and 40 people were injured in that tornado alone.

Numerous mobile communities were destroyed and portions of a Procter & Gamble plant were wrecked. Numerous strong concrete structures were damaged.

The more-than-mile-wide tornado destroyed nearly all of the trees along portions of its path through the Peach State. Many of these trees ended up on homes as the tornado moved through.

(MORE: 2017 U.S. Tornado Deaths Top Two Dozen )

2. California Drought, Deluge: $1.0 Billion, 5 Deaths

The tables drastically turned on California's drought in February. A persistent trough brought more than a half dozen strong low pressure systems – some with robust atmospheric rivers – to the California and Oregon coasts. Some brought feet of rainfall to California and dozens of feet of snow to the Sierras.

(MORE: From Parched to Flooding in Just Months )

Substantial flooding and structural damage were done as creeks and rivers overtopped their banks and even some dams, and rising reservoirs from nearly bone dry to over 100 percent full.

Erosion and fatigue wore down an auxiliary spillway at the Oroville Dam in central California after days of heavy rainfall. Nearly 200,000 were evacuated downstream due to concerns that the spillway might fail.

Other major flood events included Califonia's Central Valley , San Jose , San Diego , Santa Barbara , the Napa Valley and Reno .

It was the wettest winter on record in Nevada and the second wettest in California dating to 1895, according to NOAA.

In the year's second major tornado outbreak, nearly 70 tornadoes crossed through many central and southern states.

The first violent (EF4 or stronger) tornado of 2017 was spawned in southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. The tornado, with estimated winds up to 180 mph, moved through just north of Perryville, where it leveled numerous homes and tore some from their foundations despite high-quality construction. One person died in this tornado .

Three EF3 tornadoes caused damage in Illinois and Indiana. One tornado destroyed homes from Naplate to Ottawa to Marseilles in Illinois, including one home that was blown off its foundation. Two people were killed and 14 were injured.

More than 100 structures were damaged in a second EF3 that traveled from Carmi, Illinois, to Oakland City, Indiana. In Gibson County, Indiana, 26 structures were destroyed.

A third EF3 tornado tracked near Washburn, Illinois, destroying homes, barns and other farm equipment. One car was thrown into a house.

(MORE: 2017's Most Tornado-Hit State is.... )

4. March 6-8 Midwest Tornado Outbreak : $1.5 Billion, 2 Deaths

More than 50 tornadoes and high winds caused damage from the Midwest into the South just a few days after another outbreak on this list.

Nearly 500 buildings including more than 480 homes were damaged or destroyed as an EF3 moved through Oak Grove, Missouri. A dozen people were injured.

Straight-line winds damaged planes and hangars at the Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, Kansas.

Tornadoes arrived as far north as Minnesota, the farthest north tornadoes have occurred for so early in the year .

In the Great Lakes , high winds battered houses and the electrical grid across Michigan and New York. Gusts as high as 80 mph helped knock out power in the region. Nearly 600,000 customers lost power in the Detroit area alone.

An additional 200,000 residents were without power in the Rochester, New York, area after 75-80 mph gusts moved through. A CSX train was derailed in high winds.

Cars and trucks across the Midwest had a hard time staying on the roads.

On the back side of Winter Storm Stella , unseasonably cold air came south, killing blueberries and peaches in the South after a warmer than average winter.

Temperatures plunged below the freezing mark in some spots. In South Carolina, the freeze hit just as peach trees were blooming, destroying an estimated 85 percent of the state's crop, according to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

In Georgia, the freeze destroyed up to 80 percent of the state's blueberry crop, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black said after touring the state.

Trees bloomed two to four weeks ahead of schedule this year after the winter warmth, which made crops more vulnerable than average. The cold air that caused this damage is a fairly regular occurrence in March on average.

Strawberries and apples were also impacted.

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Of course, the costliest events are the ones that take human lives. Stay safe by tuning here at weather.com and visiting our Safety and Preparedness pages.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Midwest Tornado Outbreak, Feb. 28-March 1