2017

I saw that the October value for the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation Index was 0.436 and thought, “that seems high”. A quick check confirmed that it was the highest October value since 1856!

While the predicted numbers of storms can give a general idea about the potential for destruction in a season, there is another quantity which conveys the seasonal destructive potential better and is contained in a single value.

Today's soft reinsurance market has put increasing amounts of pressure on traditional reinsurers to develop new strategies and tactics to survive. In this post we’ll take a look at some of the forces that have created today’s soft market conditions and connect them back to their effect on combined ratios.

The North Atlantic hurricanes Harvey and Irma made landfall along the U.S. coastline within two weeks of each other. We were curious to see how often major hurricanes made consecutive landfalls along the U.S. coast.

After a decade-long drought of major hurricane landfalls in the U.S., 2017 has certainly captured the attention of insurers. Together, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria present a rare opportunity for insurance carriers.

Five years ago Hurricane Sandy made a sharp left turn and slammed into the coast of New Jersey. While a total of 24 states were affected, Sandy will be remembered not for wind damage, but flooding.

The western United States, California in particular, has already suffered a grueling wildfire season this year, with just over a month to go. What caused the fires is still being debated, but once the sparks were ignited, which major factors contributed to the ongoing destruction?

Post-event surveys are treasure troves of information for catastrophe modelers. They serve as the perfect natural laboratory to test the efficacy of modeling assumptions and open up avenues for improving the models.

As Typhoon Lan approached Honshu on Saturday, October 21, Japanese researchers made their first flight into the eye of a tropical cyclone.

Because of the economic circumstances in Puerto Rico prior to the hurricane and devastation afterward, I wanted to take a closer look to understand what lies ahead for the people of the island.