New Hardened Weather Stations Successfully Capture Wind Speeds During Hurricane Ike

Stations Record Peak Wind Speeds in Houston/Galveston Area, Providing Unique Data for Parametric Indices
 

Newark, CA – October 2, 2008 – New weather stations designed to withstand hurricane-force winds successfully captured wind speed data throughout Hurricane Ike, while national stations failed, according to Risk Management Solutions (RMS) and WeatherFlow, a leading provider of weather data. The hardened stations - which recorded wind speeds at seven locations in the Houston/Galveston area during Ike - support the WindX and Paradex parametric indices, which allow re/insurers to transfer risk to the capital markets based on wind speeds rather than insured losses. 

“Our Hurricane Network worked exactly as we expected, even though the area lost power and cellular communications during the hurricane,” said Buck Lyons, CEO of WeatherFlow, which owns the wind station network.  “The stations recorded wind speed data continuously throughout the storm, in an environment where 10 of the 11 National Weather Service stations failed.”

The stations sited around Houston and Galveston are part of a nationwide network designed to record wind speeds in locations with the highest risk of insured loss.  “Many capital markets participants were taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to see if the stations would record wind speeds successfully during a hurricane,” said Peter Nakada, managing director of RMS Consulting.  “The success of WindX throughout  Ike will give investors the comfort to invest in WindX and Paradex transactions for the 2009 hurricane season.”

Mr. Lyons added: “We believe we have created the ‘gold standard’ for hurricane-force wind measurements.  As well as enabling financial transactions, the data will help to advance the understanding of how hurricane-force winds behave as they move over land.”

Notes to editors

The stations gathered both 3-second gusts and 1-minute sustained wind speeds for each station. The figure below shows the positions of the seven stations, and the maximum 3-second wind speed recorded by each station.

The stations also transmitted data in near real-time during the storm. 

About WeatherFlow

WeatherFlow Inc. owns and operates a network of over 350 proprietary weather stations including the recently installed section of its Hurricane Network. The company’s largely coastal observing system gathers weather data which fuels both primary applications and its WRAMS mesoscale forecasting model. WeatherFlow serves a broad array of clients in business and government.  Other stakeholders and beneficiaries in its Hurricane Network include a consortium of utilities,  the National Weather Service, and local emergency managers.  For more information visit www.weatherflow.com and www.windx.com.