Catastrophe risk modeling firm Karen Clark and Company (KCC) estimates privately insured losses from winter storm ferns bringing ice and snow to more than 30 states will total $6.7 billion.
The estimate is based on the high-resolution KCC U.S. winter storm model and includes privately insured damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties due to freeze, snow/ice and wind.
In providing meteorological background to the event, the KCC explained that on January 23, arctic air masses tilted southward, bringing frigid temperatures to the Great Plains and Midwest.
A low-pressure system, Winter Storm Fern, develops along the leading edge of this air mass, where cold air interacts with warm, moist air flowing in from the Gulf.
The KCC added: “The warm air mass blanketed the denser Arctic air, producing widespread sleet and freezing rain from Texas to the Carolinas. These conditions resulted in severe ice accumulation, including at least an inch of ice accumulation in northwest Alabama, northern Louisiana, northern Mississippi and Oklahoma.”
Fern then pushed northeastward on January 24 and 25, reportedly dropping heavy snow from Arkansas to Maine, as well as more freezing rain in the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states.
The KCC observed that the arctic air mass covered the eastern two-thirds of the country as Fern moved northeast.
The most severe sub-hazard facing Fern is ice, followed by snow and ice, with freezing rain causing ice accumulation, further exacerbating freeze damage, according to the catastrophic risk modeling firm.
KCC continued: “Snow and ice downed trees and downed power lines, causing widespread power outages from eastern Texas to Kentucky and southern New Mexico.
“The highest outage rates per customer are in an area stretching from northern Louisiana through northern Mississippi and into western Tennessee.
“Properties experiencing prolonged power outages are more susceptible to damage from cold temperatures, which is primarily caused by burst pipes.
“Additionally, some of the strongest cold anomalies (largest deviations from normal temperatures) during this event occurred in Texas. Record low temperatures were reached in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston.”
In related news, Aon recently estimated that insured and economic losses from the “historic” winter storm could exceed $1 billion, while earlier this month, BMS said Winter Storm Fern was expected to cause hundreds of millions of dollars in insured losses.
