Meteorological Consulting
Services for the Insurance Industry
Genesis Weather Solutions and its
associates have expertise in a multitude of specialty areas that are tailored to the
insurance industry to assist adjusters, catastrophe teams, and in subrogation with weather
related claims. These specialty areas include Weather Reconstruction, Expert Report
Preparation, Expert Testimony in the field of Meteorology, Hydrological/Hydraulic Modeling
and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Genesis Weather Solutions
Consulting Meteorologist Bryan Rappolt has worked with
numerous insurance companies and law firms on the reconstruction of weather events for
claim settlement and litigation purposes and has appeared numerous times as an expert
witness in the field of meteorology in the state of Colorado.
Specific service areas
tailored to the insurance industry include the following:
Historical Weather
Reconstruction, Expert Report Preparation and Expert Testimony
Doppler Radar Derived
Rain/Hail/Snow/Wind Reconstruction
Climatological Studies
Weather Vulnerability Studies
Weather Event Reoccurrence Interval Determination (50-yr., 100-yr.
Event, Act of God"?)
Below are some examples of the types of weather related
insurance claims, legal cases, and insurance related studies that Genesis Weather
Solutions Consulting Meteorologist Bryan Rappolt has performed on:
Slip and Falls - Site specific weather variable
reconstruction including precipitation depth and duration, air and ground temperature
(maximum, minimum and hourly), ice formation (type of ice and its casual effect), ice
freeze/re-freeze cycles and solar calculations (percent of sunshine, sun angle and
azimuth).
Flood Damage - Site specific determination of rainfall depth
and duration using Doppler Base Reflectivity data, ground and atmospheric truthed to
surface and atmospheric observations. Flood damage sources include thunderstorm
cells and general storms.
Hail Damage
- Site specific determination of hailstone size, density, duration, and depth using
Doppler Base Reflectivity data, ground and atmospheric truthed to surface and atmospheric
observations.
Snow Damage - Site specific determination of snow depth,
duration, water content of the snow, and snow drift depth using Doppler Base Reflectivity
and Velocity data, ground and atmospheric truthed to surface and atmospheric observations.
Wind Damage - Site specific determination of wind
velocity, peak wind gusts, and wind direction using Doppler Base Reflectivity and Velocity
data, ground and atmospheric truthed to surface and atmospheric observations. Wind
damage sources include straight-line micro-bursts and tornadoes associated with
thunderstorm cells and straight-line winds associated with regional scale weather features
such as down slope and post-frontal winds.
Automobile Accidents - Site specific determination of weather
variables that contributed to automobile accidents. Weather variables include
precipitation depth and duration, wind velocity, peak wind gusts, and wind direction, air
and ground temperature (maximum, minimum and hourly), ice formation (type of ice and its
casual effect), ice freeze/re-freeze cycles and solar calculations (percent of sunshine,
sun angle and azimuth).
Weather Event Return Frequency Interval Determination
- Calculation of rain, snow, wind, and flood frequency of occurrence. What was the
frequency of occurrence of a specific weather variable? Was it a 50-yr.
event, a 100-yr. event, a 500-yr. event? Can it be considered an "act of
God"?
Weather Vulnerability Studies - Determination of historical extreme weather events and their casual affect observed across
an area to assist in the determination of insurance rates. Areas can include
locations where policy holders currently exist and areas where an insurance company is
proposing to write insurance and set rates.
Weather Climatological Studies - Determination of historical weather variables for a specific
location or an area to assist in weather related claim settlement. Weather variables
include air temperature, snowfall, rainfall, hail, wind, solar and lunar information.
