An assessment of the geographical and temporal distributions of costly convective storms across the U.S. during 1949-2008 found that losses were caused by various types of convective storms, including thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes, heavy rains, and high winds. Most of the 812 total convective storms (resulting in insured property losses of $1 million or more) and their losses occurred in the Midwest and Southern U.S., accounting for 75% of all storms and 79% of all losses in the U.S. during the 60 years sampled. The most frequent catastrophes occurred in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, and Missouri. Catastrophe sizes showed 50% of the 812 total events occurred in only one state and 78% in three or fewer states. The number of catastrophes occurring in only one state and in one climate region during 1949-2008 were least during 1999-2008, revealing that recent catastrophes were of greater size than those occurring during 1949-1998. The national distribution of catastrophes during 1949-2008 showed wide fluctuations over time, with a low of 28 events in 1954-1958 and a high of 101 catastrophes during 1969-1973. No long-term trend was evident. Catastrophe losses nationally fluctuated during 1949-1993, but thereafter increased systematically to a peak in 2004-2008. The temporal distribution of regional catastrophe losses showed considerable fluctuation over time, but the losses in the Central, Northeast, and Southeast regions peaked in 2004-2008. This upward trend in losses reflects recent increases in catastrophe sizes in the Central, Southeast, and Northeast and reveals a recent intensification of storm-producing conditions in the eastern U.S.