Moving into the late summer, weather patterns are favoring seasonal dryness in the western United States, where moderate to severe drought is persisting in the Pacific Northwest, and fuels are drying out and becoming receptive to fire. While fire activity has been slightly below average to date in 2019, the outlook is for normal to above normal wildland fire potential in the ... Continue Reading »
United States
U.S. Organizations Continue to Purchase Terrorism Insurance at High Levels
The United States is the world’s largest buyer of terrorism insurance, and U.S.-based organizations continue to purchase coverage at a high rate. In 2018, the take-up rate for TRIPRA coverage embedded in U.S. property policies was 62 percent. Take-up rates have remained close to 60 percent over the last several years. ... Continue Reading »
Weather Sentinel: Escalating SCS Threat – U.S. Midwest
An escalating threat for severe thunderstorms today will affect areas from the Dakotas to the central Great Lakes. The U.S. Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has flagged areas under threat, including a rare moderate risk area for portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Meteorological Service of Canada has also issued severe thunderstorm watches for portions of Southern Ontario. ... Continue Reading »
CAT- i Bulletin: Hurricane Barry
Hurricane Barry made landfall near Morgan City, Louisiana on July 13, briefly reaching hurricane status while moving ashore. The storm has since weakened and its remnants have moved into the Lower Great Lakes area. The slow forward motion of the storm has rendered widespread flooding and localized significant flooding in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Wind impacts have ... Continue Reading »
Barry Decays, Yet Remains Major Inland Flood Threat
After Barry's brief time as a hurricane on Saturday during landfall on the central Louisiana coast, the hurricane weakened rapidly on Sunday but still remains a formidable inland flood threat. The combination of slow movement and continued flow off the Gulf of Mexico is resulting in widespread inland flooding across Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, western Tennessee and ... Continue Reading »
Barry Upgraded to Hurricane Status While Moving Ashore
According to advisories of the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Tropical Storm Barry was upgraded to hurricane status while moving ashore about 40 miles south of Slidell, Louisiana at 11AM EDT Saturday. The storm has since been downgraded by the NHC to tropical storm status as it continues to move inland. Impacts due to flooding and wind have already been reported in affected ... Continue Reading »
Tropical Storm Barry – Significant Flood Threat Expected
Tropical Storm Barry has shown steady strengthening over recent hours, and now sits about 115 miles south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana. The storm is expected to continue on a slow turn to the north over the next 24 hours or so, to move ashore over the central Louisiana coast as a probable hurricane early Saturday. Model guidance has shown somewhat better agreement in ... Continue Reading »
Tropical Storm Barry
The northern Gulf disturbance was upgraded this morning to Tropical Storm Barry, and sits about 90 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm is expected to move very slowly to the north and west over the coming days, to move ashore in Louisiana as a hurricane sometime early Saturday. There remains considerable uncertainty on track and especially intensity. ... Continue Reading »
Potential Hurricane Threat – U.S. Northern Gulf
There is an escalating threat for hurricane landfall on the U.S. Northern Gulf Coast over the coming days from a disturbance now located offshore of the Florida Panhandle. There remains considerable uncertainty in forecast specifics, but landfall on the Louisiana or perhaps the Texas coast appears most probable given current model guidance. The threat of landfall with hurricane ... Continue Reading »
Searles Valley Earthquake Sequence: Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Events
Summary A pair of significant earthquakes struck the Searles Valley, California area (Kern County) on July 4 and 5, 2019, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). On July 4, an estimated Mw 6.4 earthquake occurred approximately 11 miles (18km) ENE from Ridgecrest (population approximately 28,000) around 10:33 AM local time. This was followed by a larger Mw 6.9 ... Continue Reading »
