Of that number, close to two-thirds, or 62%, died from excessive cold or hypothermia compared with 31% of those who died from exposure to excessive heat. By contrast, only 6% of those killed during the study period were the result of such extreme weather events as lightning strikes, floods or storms.
The report's findings were based on information reported on death certificates.
Death rates varied along gender, regional and racial lines, with the majority of excessive heat deaths occurring in Western and Southern states. Perhaps surprisingly, the West and South had roughly the same number of cold-related deaths as did the Midwest at more than 1,700 for each, while the Northeastern region of the country had the fewest number of deaths at 1,200.
Men and boys made up the vast bulk of weather-related deaths, accounting for 70%, while blacks were more than twice as likely to die from a weather-related incident as both whites and Hispanics.
People earning less than $36,000 a year had the highest death rate from a weather event at 11.8 per every 1 million people, while those making at least $49,000 and above had the lowest rate at 5.3 deaths for every 1 million.
The report indicates weather-related events will have a greater impact on more-vulnerable populations, a notion that has been repeated by both environmentalists and health experts for years.
But unlike other recent reports that have attempted to make climate change a public health issue, this report's finding that a large proportion of weather-related deaths are due to exposure to cold highlights the importance of what many advocates claim is the relationship of such social determinants as stable housing, poverty, unemployment and crime to health status.
Follow Steven Ross Johnson on Twitter: @MHsjohnson