With all of the killer tornadoes, damaging hail storms, crippling blizzards, and record heat waves that we have experienced so far in 2011, the number of claims citing weather-related damages has skyrocketed. As insurance adjusters, CAT teams, engineers, and others scramble to investigate these claims and determine whether a payout is due, it is a good time to think about the role that forensic meteorologists can play in cases where weather could be a major factor. Because these weather events directly affect the insurance industry by increasing the number of P&C claims and policy payouts, forensic meteorologists can be of tremendous value in mitigating unnecessary losses or substantiating payouts.

Using a variety of official weather records, forensic meteorologists can verify the climate conditions surrounding a loss by using tools to pinpoint exactly what had been going on at a specified time and location. Forensic meteorology has been around for more than a decade, but many attorneys, insurance professionals, and engineers may be unaware of the services that these experts can provide.