Risk Meter has added a new straight line wind report to its service.  Straight line winds (also known as thundergusts or hurricanes of the prairie) are produced by the downward momentum in the downdraft region of thunderstorms.  Straight line wind storms can produce winds that reach 100 mph or more.

RiskMeter's straight line wind report gauges the potential for damage to any location in the Continental US, and is based on data from the National Climatic Data Center.  By simply typing in an address, you will be able to get:

SLW Scale: This is a number between 1-100 that represents the frequency of straight line wind events.  Currently, the national average is 8 (equates to 2 straight line wind events per year), so any SLW Scale number higher than that is more likely to have an event occur.

SLW Percentile:  This is a percentile score that compares your lookup to the rest of the US.  For example a score of 10 means that it is in the lowest 10% of all areas in the US, or a score of 80 would mean that it is in the top 20% of all areas in the US. Being in the 50% percentile means this is the median value.

Storms per Year:  This is the average number of straight line wind events per year for an area. 

SLW Score:  This score is based upon the straight line wind events per year.  The scores can be interpreted as follows:

0   No Risk - No events reported
1   Below Average Risk - Less than 1.5 events per year on avg
2   Average Risk - 1.5-2.5 events per year on average
3   Elevated Risk - 2.5-5 events per year on average
4   High Risk - 5 to 15 events per year on average
5   Extreme Risk - More than 15 events per year on average
 
For more information about this report, please contact Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email