NOAA MRCC News

I had wind damage to my roof during a recent thunderstorm, and the insurance company needs documentation of the wind speed before it will process the claim. Can you tell me what the wind gusts were during the storm?

Wind speed can vary greatly over short distances, and is affected by such things as trees, buildings, and other obstacles. Most wind speed and direction data is obtained from airport observations sites. Usually these have an unobstructed exposure to the wind and may not accurately represent the wind conditions at, for example, an urban location. If an airport observing station is located near your home, this data may be available and be sufficient evidence. How applicable this data may be to your location depends on your proximity to the observation site. If there is no wind observation site nearby, we would have to rely on the Local Storm Reports gathered by the National Weather Service or the Storm Data publication published by NCDC. Local Storm Reports are listings of storm-related tornado, hail, and wind gust/wind damage events. Wind speeds reported are often estimates and usually not at "official" observing sites. However, these reports may provide evidence that a severe storm occurred in your area.

Lightning struck my house and damaged my TV and personal computer. The insurance company said that I need to provide documentation in order to process the claim. Do you have such information?

No, the only source for lightning data is Vaisala Group. They operate the Network Control Center for the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network®, and provide custom reports on lightning strikes, and can locate strikes usually to within 500 meters. The MRCC may be able to tell you whether or not a thunderstorm was reported in your area, depending on the availability nearby reporting stations.

For events less than three months old, check the preliminary daily storm reports on the Storm Prediction Center web site.

For events greater than three months old, check the on-line Storm Data database maintained by the National Climatic Data Center

The only source of hail data that the MRCC can provide are copies of the pertinent storm event pages found in the publication Storm Data. Storm Data is compiled and published by NCDC. There is about a six-month lag in the publication of the monthly Storm Data publications. The minimum cost for receiving copies of Storm Data pages is $22.00. Contact our Service Office if you need certified data. If you have questions or need assistance in acquiring storm information, please contact our Service Climatologists.

An inspector said that I have had hail damage to the roof of my home. I've lived in my house since 1995. Can you tell me all of the dates that hail was reported in my area?

That depends. First of all, hail is typically a very localized phenomenon. It may hail in one location, and a half mile away no hail may be observed. Because it can occur in a relatively small area, not all hail that falls is observed or reported. One of the criteria for a severe thunderstorm is observed hail ¾ inch or more in diameter, so if severe storms have occurred at your location there may be a record of hail if it occurred. These reports include the size of the hail, location where it occurred, and time it occurred.

What can you testify to in court (and where can you testify)?

Generally, it is not necessary for us to appear in court to testify about the data we supply. The certification we provide serves the purpose of authenticating data. If we are subpoenaed to testify, we appear only as a Friend of the Court, and can testify only that the data come from our archives. We cannot testify as to the accuracy or appropriateness of the data and cannot appear as an "expert witness". For more information see the NOAA document "Weather Records in Private Litigation". If expert testimony is needed, the services of a forensic meteorologist should be retained. The American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association maintain listings of consulting meteorologists.

What is "certified" data?

Most states require all records that are to be submitted as evidence in a court of law to be authenticated in some way, typically called certification. There are several types of certification available. The MRCC can certify copies of climate records archived at the MRCC. As an archiving facility, the only fact the MRCC can attest to is that exact duplicates of climatic records on file at this center have been provided to those that requested such data. The National Climatic Data Center, the official United States archive for climatic records, can provide two types of certification. For more information on certification, please check our Certification page.