Reconstructing the wind of a whole landfall

A susceptibility modifier depends on an accurate wind field. For Ian we rebuilt the storm’s wind field and scored it against the stations that recorded hurricane-force gusts.

Ian on radar, in our model, and in a parametric model

The Tampa Bay radar tracked Ian’s eyewall from six hours before the Punta Gorda landfall to twelve hours after.

Observed · KTBW radarStation gusts, mph
Downstream modelPeak gust, mph
Standard parametric modelPeak gust, mph
Frame 13 of 25

Station error cut from 26 to 16 mph

At the 25 stations that recorded hurricane-force gusts, the mean absolute error of peak gust was 25.6 mph for a standard parametric model and 15.5 mph for ours. The same model runs across a 12-storm historical library.

Where two footprints disagree, a client’s own claims can tell them apart.

Mean absolute error of peak gust, mph
Standard parametric model25.6
Downstream15.5
Downstream analysis

The same properties before and after Ian

For Ian alone we hold before-and-after imagery for 772,603 properties. This is the record a damage model learns from.

Tap or hover for after about 225 m across

Damage changes from house to house

Along any street the damage is uneven at the scale of single lots, the scale the modifier is built for.

NOAA aerial photograph of a southwest Florida neighborhood after Hurricane Ian.
Southwest Florida after Ian, 2022.
Oblique aerial of a Fort Myers-area cul-de-sac after Ian, intact, tarped and damaged roofs side by side.
Fort Myers area, 29 September 2022.
NOAA aerial after Hurricane Ian of single-family homes among trees, each outlined from blue, below 1, through neutral to coral, above 1.

One modifier for each of 33 houses

The footprint gives every house on this street close to the same gust. A susceptibility modifier would give each its own number, from what surrounds it.

In this illustration the strongest gusts come from the right, across the canal and the open water beyond it. Homes on the water and at the ends of rows get the highest values. Homes in the lee of other houses and of the tree belt get the lowest. These values are illustrative and are not model output.

Pen sketch of a shore neighborhood at sunrise, hip-roofed houses and palms above a beach.

Get in touch

We love feedback. If you’re working through interesting problems in wind risk, let’s chat.

ted@downstream.earth
marketing@downstream.earth

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