RMS Releases Regional Weather Index Values for 2002-2003 Winter Season

Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world’s leading provider of products and services for the management of natural hazard risks, announced that final values for its regional weather indexes for the winter of 2002-2003 showed it to be extremely cold in the eastern U.S. and extremely mild in the western U.S.

The RMS indexes track seasonal temperatures across 10 regions of the U.S. For the Nov. 2002 to March 2003 winter season, the indexes show that the weather was much colder than average in the 5 regions covering the Midwest, Atlantic seaboard, and southern U.S. Weather was near average in the Plains and Northern Plains regions, while it was significantly warmer than average in the Mountain States, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southwest.

The most extreme cold conditions relative to the 10-year average were registered in the Midwest region, where the average daily temperature for the winter was 31.3 degrees Fahrenheit. This value is 4.0 degrees below the 10-year average of 35.3 degrees and 6.5 degrees cooler than the average daily temperature recorded in this same region last winter. Similarly, the Northeast region finished the winter 3.6 degrees cooler than the 10-year average and the Mid-Atlantic region ended 2.9 degrees cooler than the 10-year average.

The most extreme warm conditions for the winter occurred in the Pacific Northwest where the average daily temperature was 42.6 degrees Fahrenheit making this the second warmest winter in the last 30 years in the region.

“The final index values from this winter show a complete contrast with last winter when the Eastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the U.S. recorded record warm temperatures while regions in the Western U.S. recorded cooler than normal temperatures,” said Paul VanderMarck, managing director of RMS’ weather risk business. “These past two winters clearly demonstrate the significant temperature variability that can occur from one year to the next, and serve as a reminder of the value that weather derivatives and insurance can offer to the wide range of businesses whose revenues are affected by the weather.”

All final index values and the record of their day-by-day progression through the winter season can be viewed on www.climetrix.com, RMS’ weather risk Web site. RMS will start tracking values of the regional weather indexes for the May to September summer season on May 2.