AIR Worldwide launches severe thunderstorm model for Europe

AIR Worldwide has released a severe thunderstorm model for Europe, the Boston-based catastrophe risk modeling firm announced Monday.

The AIR Severe Thunderstorm Model for Europe captures the effects of straight-line winds and hail, enabling companies to assess their risk from the local scale to the macro level on insured properties, including residential, commercial, auto and specialty lines of business in 22 countries, AIR said in a statement.

The severe thunderstorm model simulates localized effects of microevents, along with the spatial extent of macroevents, AIR said in the statement. AIR said this is achieved by replicating daily activity based on storm analysis.

“The model reflects emerging scientific and engineering research and leverages data from many sources, including storm report databases, numerical weather prediction and ... radar data from recent events,” AIR said in the statement. AIR said that to validate the model, it used a large set of claims data, including that from large European insurers.

“Though typically associated with the summer months, severe thunderstorms can strike Europe at any time of the year, and their loss potential is increasing,” Eric Robinson, AIR Worldwide manager and principal scientist, said in the statement. “A severe thunderstorm event can, over the course of several days, produce multiple outbreaks. Depending upon the region, high-frequency severe thunderstorms can contribute up to 50 percent to overall wind-related insured losses in Europe.”