WSI Launches WSI LiveCat Forecast™
Weather Solutions Expert Develops Powerful Hurricane Forecasting Tool for Energy Traders, Utilities and Insurance Firms in Collaboration with Guy Carpenter, Leading Reinsurance Specialist
Andover, MA, April 29, 2008 - WSI Corporation, the leader in weather-driven business solutions, today announced the introduction of WSI LiveCat Forecast™, an innovative service providing highly accurate predictions – up to 10 days out – of the path and intensity of upcoming hurricanes and tropical storms. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) currently only predicts hurricane information up to five days out.
For a given storm, the WSI LiveCat Forecast service, developed in collaboration with Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, the world’s leading risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, will enable energy traders, utility executives and insurance professionals to develop recovery plans with more precision and to establish advantageous market positions days ahead of those relying on NHC information alone.
Using a patent-pending technique, WSI LiveCat Forecast employs state-of-the-art meteorological models to predict the direction, intensity and duration of a named hurricane, along with a US landfall probability beyond the standard (NHC) 5-day forecast period.
“WSI has developed a tool that goes well beyond what is currently available by applying our expertise and deep understanding of weather prediction to advance hurricane forecasting to the next level,” said Ira Scharf, General Manager of WSI’s Energy and Risk Services. “WSI LiveCat Forecast gives traders and risk managers an edge by predicting a storm’s path and intensity up to five days longer than the National Hurricane Center. Given the precarious nature of hurricane trajectories, WSI LiveCat Forecast gives customers the most accurate assessment of a hurricane’s track and intensity to help them mitigate risk.”
Beginning on June 1, 2008, for each named tropical storm or hurricane, WSI LiveCat Forecast will issue:
1. Track and intensity forecasts for each named tropical
storm or hurricane, twice daily, up to 10 days out
2. Landfall probability forecasts that are dependent upon storm-specific
track uncertainty rather than historical error statistics
3. Weather forecasting skill comparable to or better than the National
Hurricane Center
WSI LiveCat Forecast is available either online or via GIS shape files.
“WSI LiveCat Forecast’s capability to predict a storm’s intensity and direction up to 10 days before it hits -- compared with the five-days-out predictions of the National Hurricane Center -- can provide insurers with the extra time they need to identify specific areas of greatest exposure and mitigate their risk,” said Michelle Harnick, Managing Director of Guy Carpenter. “This kind of an information edge is of great value to the insurance industry.”
To learn more about WSI LiveCat, contact Rob Boucher at rboucher@wsi.com or call (978) 983-6558.
About WSI Corporation
WSI is the most trusted source of weather information across the globe. Top
insurance, risk management companies and financial institutions around the globe
trust WSI to supply them with easy-to-use, timely and expert weather guidance
to help anticipate market volatility, mitigate risk and make critical decisions
with confidence. For more information, please visit us on the web at www.wsi.com
or call us at 877.WSI.CORP or +44.121.233.7600.
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