Since 2005, PCS has designated 17 catastrophes during the month of January, including 12 winter storms and four wind and thunderstorm events. January storms during that period caused $6 billion in insured losses.
The largest January winter storm since 2005 was the recent CAT 32, designated in 2014. It involved 17 states and had an estimated insured loss of $1.7 billion.
The most active year for January catastrophe frequency was 2005, with three catastrophes resulting in $645 million in insured damages.
January 2014 had nearly $1.9 billion in insured losses and 185,000 claims. The month saw two major winter storm events, including CAT 31 and the polar vortex within CAT 32, which caused $170 million and $1.7 billion in insured losses, respectively.
The following graphs illustrate catastrophe activity in loss dollars and claim volume for the month of January from 2005 to the present.
Ted Gregory
Ted Gregory is manager, Property Claim Services (PCS). PCS is a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.