August 2014

Even now, it is very hard to put into words the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 when it made landfall along the Jersey Shore. Homes were razed, Manhattan went dark, boats were washed ashore, coastal roads were destroyed, and subway tunnels filled with water.

One of the advantages of working at AIR is that I often question colleagues about sensational news headlines, to get the real scoop. When the media starts alarming audiences with polar vortices, hypercanes, thunder snow, and the like I seek out one of my friendly neighborhood subject matter experts who work with these topics every day.

On average, 80-90 tropical cyclones (TCs) form in the world’s ocean basins each year—and the numbers are fairly consistent from year to year. This would suggest that, in any given year, if one basin fails to produce its usual output, then another basin may yield a surplus.

Early on the morning of August 8, 2014, Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall on the Big Island of Hawaii, near the small town of Pahala with 60 mph sustained winds. Iselle was the first tropical cyclone landfall on the Big Island since 1958, and just a few hours prior to landfall, it was still a hurricane.

The U.S. agricultural sector is having a very interesting year from a meteorological and financial standpoint. Unfortunately there is no precipitation relief for drought-ridden California, but it's not all bad news for crops there. And Nebraska has had a couple of bad hail events so far, but overall the crops in that state are doing all right.

They're finally here! Following years of preparation, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released the 2014 National Seismic Hazard Maps. These display earthquake ground motions for various probability levels across the conterminous United States, and replace the previous versions published in 2008.

If you haven't heard that El Niño conditions are coming soon to the equatorial East Pacific, then you've probably been on a very long holiday devoid of cable news and Internet access—and I'm jealous. For the rest of us, this has been a long, drawn out forecast, one that might soon be verified.

I got a real buzz out of attending "Understanding Risk," a week-long biennial conference hosted by the World Bank. London was this year’s venue, and the program offered a myriad of sessions and workshops. As the title suggests, the conference was focused on the understanding of risk across a wide range of hazards (including natural hazards).