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Insurance and Reinsurance

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Leveraging the National Centers for Environmental Information’s (NCEI) environmental data improves risk modeling and analysis for the insurance sector, supporting faster recovery from extreme events and informing decision making surrounding insurance pricing and individual risk.

NOAA data validates property insurance claims across the country. Insurance and reinsurance companies need this data to be easily accessible and high-quality to protect the lives, livelihoods, and assets of millions of Americans. While insurance companies help protect individuals and businesses from loss, reinsurance companies help protect insurers from loss and ensure their financial solvency, so they can continue to offer coverage and pay out claims.

The insurance and reinsurance industry provides vital financial support for communities recovering from extreme weather events. These events have a significant economic impact: from 2017 to 2024, there were over $1 trillion in total direct losses from extreme weather and climate events in the United States. The industry is valued at billions of dollars each year, making it one of the largest industries in the U.S., significantly contributing to the nation's GDP. However, with the increase in extreme weather events, insurers are facing challenges at an unprecedented scale and require new and improved methods to identify and manage their climate risk.

Building on years of previous engagement, NOAA has partnered with the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) to better understand the climate and weather information needs of the industry and help inform day-to-day decision making and operations, ensuring industry resiliency in the coming decades.

Our Goal

By providing access to the most accurate and up-to-date environmental information and tailored data and products, NCEI is supporting insurers’ efforts to improve their catastrophe modeling and analysis to inform pricing, evaluate claims, and support rapid recovery in communities after extreme weather events.


A woman is seated at a desk, pointing to a radar map on a computer screen; her male coworker looks on, smiling. Additional computer screens in front of them feature presentation slides, maps, and spreadsheets.
Credit:

NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory

Data-Driven Impacts for Insurance and Reinsurance

Insurance and reinsurance companies need accessible, downscaled, and contextualized climate and weather information to better understand and mitigate risk and inform their catastrophe models.

Insurance companies price their premiums using computer models called catastrophe models–simulations that develop estimates based on the cost of potential disasters. As the number of extreme weather events increases year over year and the frequency of disasters totaling $1 billion or more has been rising, catastrophe models need to account for this change by incorporating the most accurate and up-to-date weather, climate, and population data.

Through regular working group meetings and other industry discussions, users have shared the following areas where they need additional data and products to understand how risk is evolving and support informed decision-making and operations:

A new Event Catalog with interactive spatial maps to define the physical impact areas of current and future evolving weather and climate hazards in the U.S. to better understand financial risk.

An updated Storm Events Database product with interactive maps, event-specific details, and automated reporting to aid in assessing risk to regions, evaluating trends over time, and expediting the validation of insurance claims.

Climatologies (climate studies that summarize long-term weather patterns, averages, and trends in a region) of hail and wind, including information on derechos and straight-line winds and their geographic footprint, to help process claims.

Through NOAA products and services, the insurance and reinsurance sector will be equipped with the data and tools needed to improve their catastrophe modeling and risk evaluation. A more accurate catastrophe model enables insurance companies to quickly assess and process damage claims following a disaster, supporting rapid recovery in communities. Better informed models also help understand future weather and climate risk, and ensure that individuals and businesses are properly protected before an event occurs.

Products

ADT-HURSAT

ADT-HURSAT

Period of record: 1979 - 2024

This product applies the Automated Dvorak Technique (ADT) to the existing HURSAT dataset, producing a record of climate-quality storm intensity estimates. The interface will include the dataset and will have direct download functionality, Python notebooks to aid users in the data download process, and provide simple use case examples within the notebook for insurers to integrate into their hurricane risk analysis. This update is expected by the winter of 2025/2026. 
Credit: Flickr, National Museum of the U.S. Navy

Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (BDD)

Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (BDD)

Period of record: 19802024

The BDD aids the insurance and reinsurance industry in risk mapping and is responsible for tracking 400 historical weather and climate events totalling $2.785 trillion in damages. By combining extreme weather and economic data, this product quantifies previous national disasters and provides risk metrics based on disaster exposure. The data covers hazards like droughts, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires.
Credit: U.S. Army National Guard photo courtesy of SC-HART

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Climate Atlas

Climate Atlas

Period of record: 1895 - Present

NOAA is combining U.S. Climate Atlas and U.S. Maps into one application that will provide access to a collection of customizable climatology maps as well as additional variables and functionality. Included datasets will be updated on an ongoing monthly basis. Insurers and Reinsurers can utilize this collection of temperature, precipitation, and degree-day maps to better understand long-term weather trends. This update is scheduled for the winter of 2025-2026. 
Credit: Flickr, NOAA Photo Library

Event Catalog

Event Catalog

Period of record: 2010 - Present

This product will feature an interactive map with a searchable index of historical weather events, including severe convective storms (tornadoes, hail, and severe wind), tropical cyclones, winter storms, and wildfires. A spatial map will be drawn to define the area, or footprint, that the weather event physically impacted and will also include specific event details along with downloadable reports. This catalog of historical events will help insurers categorize recent trends in extreme weather and develop proactive disaster response and recovery guidance. This is a new resource with a phased development schedule; the initial product will focus on severe convective hazards and is expected to be available by the spring of 2026. 
Credit: Flickr, Yellowstone National Park

International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS)

International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS)

Period of record: 1842 - Present

By combining recent and historical cyclone data, IBTrACS creates a comprehensive collection of tropical cyclone tracks, allowing insurers and reinsurers to inform models, visualize regional trends, and better assess how risks are evolving over space and time. NOAA is updating this product to include a modernized web page with interactive maps, event-specific details, and automated reporting for custom user needs. This update is scheduled for release in the summer of 2025.
Credit: NASA Johnson Space Center, Mike Trenchard, Earth Sciences & Image Analysis Laboratory

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Storm Events Database (SED)

Storm Events Database (SED)

Period of record: 1842 - Present

The SED contains data from high-impact weather events used to assess risk to regions, evaluate trends over time, and validate insurance claims, supporting communities recovering from extreme weather events. NOAA updated the SED to include interactive maps, event-specific details, and automated reporting for user needs. This update was released in the summer of 2025. 
Credit: NOAA Digital Collection, Sean Waugh

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Wind Climatology

Wind Climatology

Period of record: 1979 - 2024

This new product is expected to launch by Fall 2026. The Wind Climatology tool will provide a spatially and temporally continuous wind climatology for the contiguous U.S. on a monthly basis from January 1979 to the present. The dataset will provide a means to better understand long-term trends in wind conditions by location. It benefits insurers and reinsurers by providing insights to assess the risk of impacts from damaging winds, including the spread of wildfire. The addition of this data to models and predictions will aid efforts to protect homeowners’ and business owners’ assets, as well as support decisions that foster long-term resilience. 
Credit: Flickr, NPS Climate Change Response