Earth Networks, the provider of WeatherBug products and services and operator of the largest weather observing and lightning network, has announced a new partnership with EarthRisk Technologies to launch TempRisk, a new long-range weather forecasting solution designed to provide more advanced warning of major heat waves and cold snaps. Designed for professionals in the energy and utility sectors who manage energy resources and invest in commodity futures, TempRisk analyzes the risk for extreme hot and cold weather up to 40 days in advance. The TempRisk Summer module, which focuses on assessing the possibility of summer heat waves, is now available through Earth Networks.
Earth Networks offers a comprehensive suite of energy and utilities solutions and is now enhancing the portfolio to provide the most advanced long-term forecasting technology. TempRisk is available now and offered through an exclusive partnership between EarthRisk and Earth Networks, the only authorized distributor of the TempRisk solution.
Through an improved understanding of global weather extremes, TempRisk users can be better prepared to make financial decisions and manage their energy resources. TempRisk features a streamlined web interface for users to examine various geographic regions and toggle easily between analysis of extreme heat and extreme cold. The TempRisk Summer module identifies certain atmospheric signatures, such as bursts of thunderstorms in the southwest Pacific Ocean, which are statistically significant for forecasting heat waves in the United States and Europe with a lead time as long as 35 to 40 days.
To develop this web-based forecasting tool, EarthRisk collaborated with researchers at one of the world’s largest and most important centers for earth science research, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at The University of California, San Diego. Scripps research is incorporated into the TempRisk platform, which contains advanced algorithms that use more than 60 years of global weather patterns to assess the risk for future extreme temperature events.
“When it comes to predicting extreme weather, the past is certainly paramount,” saed Stephen Bennett, Founder and CEO, EarthRisk. “Our process for linking past weather patterns to future weather extremes had an 80% hit rate in the winter of 2010-2011 for part of the United States. Advanced indications of extreme weather events are critical for energy traders, energy analysts, utilities, and others with a vested interest how weather impacts commodity markets and resource planning.”
In the fall of 2010, energy and utility analysts used EarthRisk to receive advanced warning 15 to 20 days prior to the season’s most severe cold outbreaks. In November, a TempRisk analysis pinpointed – approximately 20 days prior to its arrival – the record cold-air mass that affected more than 80 million Americans in mid-December. At the same time, across the Atlantic, TempRisk also identified an elevated risk for prolonged severe cold in Europe. Last winter, the United Kingdom experienced its coldest December in 100 years, during which time natural gas demand spiked to record levels and prices hit a two-year high.
